Two French police officers have been ordered to stand trial over the deaths of two teenagers who were electrocuted in 2005 while fleeing from police, an incident that sparked the worst riots in France in 40 years. The Rennes appeal court ruled on Tuesday that a criminal trial should proceed, ending eight years of legal battles led by the victims' families.
The teenagers, Zyed Benna, 17, and Bouna Traoré, 15, died after hiding in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois, north of Paris, in October 2005. A third youth, aged 17, survived with severe burns. The boys had been returning from a football match and were not suspected of any crime, but fled when they saw a police van. Police chased them, and the boys hid in the dangerous substation.
Their deaths triggered weeks of riots across France, with more than 9,000 vehicles and dozens of buildings set on fire. The government invoked emergency powers to quell the unrest, the worst in mainland France in nearly 40 years. The case has symbolised the fraught relations between police and youths in French housing estates.
The two officers face charges of “non-assistance to a person in danger” for failing to alert the energy company EDF that the boys were in the substation. Their lawyers argued they did not know the boys were inside. An earlier decision to drop the case was overturned by France’s highest court last year. Lawyers for the officers may still appeal the trial order.
