Thousands rally in France to condemn drug violence

Thousands of people gathered across France on Saturday after anti-drug activist Amine Kessaci called for nationwide protests against escalating drug violence and to honour his brother, who was murdered earlier this month.

In Marseille, more than 6,000 people joined the demonstration, broadcaster BFMTV reported, citing local authorities. Politicians from across the political spectrum took part.

The protest followed the fatal shooting of Amine's 20-year-old brother Mehdi, who was shot dead in Marseille on November 13.

The 22-year-old activist and his mother joined mourners at the site of the attack. An audio message Amine recorded was played, insisting that Mehdi, who had been in vocational training and hoped to join the police force, had been innocent and "only guilty of being my [Amine's] brother."

Amine founded the association Conscience, which supports families affected by drug crime, after his half-brother Brahim was found dead in a burned-out car in 2020 in a drug-related killing. He is currently under police protection.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has described Mehdi's murder as an act of intimidation, rather than a "classic settling of scores" of the kind that occurs dozens of times each year in Marseille.

According to the newspaper Le Parisien, the head of the powerful drug gang DZ Mafia could be behind the killing.