PREVIOUSLY
…clashes pitting hundreds of demonstrators
-against law enforcement. -Not that way, man. Trouble.
The violent charges by motorcycle police
contributed to the death of one young man only 22 years old.
Your brother Malik was found last night in a stairwell
where doctors pronounced him dead.
The police did this. They killed Malik.
But going after the police is dangerous. This is gonna be rough on you.
Nobody can know. No stone unturned.
We need a version that's rock solid.
Does he have any ties to terrorists?
He's been a good student, troubles and all.
-What do you mean troubles? -A renal insufficiency.
His death was not caused by blows
but was a cardiac failure by a kidney condition.
The police are aware of it if it's on the radio.
-Malik is a victim of the state!
They'll make him a martyr.
All the banners say "Justice for Malik" already.
He was carrying a Bible in his pocket. We'll have to look into it.
By God, you better look into it!
-Justice for Malik! -Justice for Malik!
-Maintain our dignity.
DEATH IS SILENT
Mrs. Oussekine. I just wanted to say, what they did to Malik is disgusting.
I promise you they won't get away with it.
We'll fight this to the end. You must believe me.
-You must believe me. -Okay, that's enough. Come on.
Please forgive him.
If you're ready, let's begin.
Black and white?
That's right.
It's all I have.
Okay. We can start.
Autopsy of Malik Oussekine.
male, 22, about 130 pounds, 5'7" tall.
Multiple hematomas in the mid-abdominal region.
-Evidence of CPR efforts noted.
Multiple hematomas also observed in the facial area.
A small hematoma on the cheek. Nose fractured. Hematoma on the forehead.
-Additional bruising in the shoulder area.
What's that all about?
I don't know.
PASQUA-MONORY SAME STRUGGLE
Chirac announced the Devaquet bill is withdrawn.
Mr. Oussekine. Hi.
I met you at the university. Do you remember me?
-Uh, yeah, I think so. -We won. We did it.
The administration has given up.
Almost a million people are marching for your brother all over France.
It's a beautiful thing.
Yeah, beautiful.
Come with me. I want you to meet someone.
I want to go home.
…your reform must go away.
Hey, hey, Devaquet, never see the light of day.
Ah. So?
Here's the case file from the court administrative office.
Not a moment too soon. We have 48 hours to file the complaint.
-Hey. -Hey.
The criminal court assigned Judge Jeannin?
Yes. Not the kind to rock the boat.
You think he'll let this go to trial?
Can't say.
Read the EMS report.
Quite interesting.
Sarah!
Who is that man?
No idea.
You don't say goodbye? Just go home and that's it?
I couldn't find you anymore. I gotta take my mom to Meudon.
Police have blood on their hands!
-Better not stay here.
Police are murderers!
Police have blood on their hands.
-I'll see you at the apartment, okay?
Thanks for being there for me.
What happened?
There's pepper spray in the elevator.
FILTHY ARABS
DEATH TO RAGHEADS
GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM
Don't worry. It's nothing.
ARABS OUT
There was nothing we could do.
I'm so sorry.
She can't stay here.
-It could happen again. -Don't worry. I'm here now.
No, seriously, what do we do?
Come stay with me in Paris, Mom. It'll be a lot safer.
Would that change anything?
They'll find us there just the same.
Don't be naive.
It'll start all over again.
We need to bury him, so he will rest in peace.
Look, Mom. It's not that simple.
It's blown up out of proportion.
The legal system is handling it now. There's an investigation.
I know that.
Let me rest.
I've seen too much for one day.
I'm gonna go lie down.
Can I have some more, please?
Oh, no. You've had plenty!
Sarah, leave your brother be.
MAY 21, 1973
Thank you.
Hey. Okay, now watch this.
Mommy, what's for dessert?
Finish your plate first.
Okay, but what's for dessert?
Maybe some formage.
It's fromage, Mommy! Not formage.
You put the "R" in the wrong place.
Fromage or formage.
It's all the same.
Are you making fun of me?
Tell me, do you know how to say…
Now it's your turn.
Needs some work.
-Why are you laughing? Huh?
They're making fun of me because I don't speak Arabic.
-You don't?
He can't even remember the opening sura.
I don't care. What good is Arabic anyway?
Sarah, get the "sheese."
Okay.
Finish your food.
Here.
Come in.
Go ahead.
Thank you for coming in, sir.
I was under the impression that I had no choice.
Would you please have a seat?
It's a-- an old police technique.
Whenever a suspect is not forthcoming,
after a while, the detectives bring him here.
I'll invite him to sit down, and I'll speak to him politely,
make sure he knows that I'm genuinely interested in him,
that he can trust me.
And most of the time, he will lower his guard.
It's "the carpet effect." That's what I call it.
Do you know what I wanted to see you about?
By adding two and two, yes.
About Malik.
You two were acquainted?
Yes.
But in terms of what happened, none of that is relevant.
Malik was Catholic, wasn't he?
There's a Lebanese Christian terrorist group to which we believe he was tied.
Is that right?
Did he confide in you concerning that?
Malik was nothing like a terrorist.
That's absurd.
And perfectly obscene.
Malik's conversion was not done,
and indeed, I'm in a position to know that.
They found this on him.
That's not common for an Algerian, is it?
Oh, so that's how you found me?
May I have a look?
It belonged to my mother.
HOLY BIBLE
I had given it to Malik.
Why?
With your fantastic carpet effect, what do you hope I'll say?
Malik was a catechumen.
Excuse me?
I was instructing Malik in the Christian faith, if you will.
But he wasn't baptized.
Please tell me that wasn't the reason the police beat him to death.
Just tell me what it is you want from me, all right?
Shouldn't you be out there questioning those who actually did this?
Following the truth is the only way possible…
for a priest, as for a policeman.
Move! Get outta here!
-Hey, you! Stop right there!
I'm talking to you. Stop!
Stop! Hey! Stop!
As for the current status of the investigation,
I can tell you that law enforcement acted faithfully
and that the police officers did their duty as they were instructed:
that is, to apprehend rioters engaged in acts of violence.
Notably those on the rue Monsieur-Le-Prince.
I also have here the first official findings from the coroner's autopsy.
They leave no doubt.
Injuries occurred by Malik Oussekine
positively do not alone explain the cause of death.
We understand it resulted from a serious kidney condition chronic in the victim.
-Yes, miss. -Mr. Minister,
how do you explain the brutality here and the motorcycle units out of control?
Evidence suggests that Malik Oussekine was not a rioter.
Well, listen.
In my own family, if I had a son who was on dialysis,
I would make sure he didn't clown around in the streets of Paris.
They didn't tape it shut?
Uh, no.
They showed ID cards?
No.
But they knew that I-- I'm due to renew my resident permit in one month.
They made it clear that if I didn't open it, they would--
It's fine, Mrs. Pires.
Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it.
You know, your little brother was very sweet.
Thank you, Mrs. Pires.
AGAINST THE VIOLENCE THE SILENCE OF THE STREET
Chirac thinks withdrawing the law will appease them.
He's even making plans to go visit the family.
And they're marching again tomorrow.
Sure. Why would they stop now?
Of course, now the left is politicizing the whole affair.
Anything new on your side?
We've come up against a roadblock on the terrorism angle.
And apparently, the boy had no involvement in the demonstration either.
He was there by accident? At00 in the morning?
Mr. Minister, we have several eyewitnesses,
and some are police officers.
They saw the motor units pursue Oussekine down rue Monsieur-le-Prince.
There's pressure from the prosecutor's office.
From now on, the IGS is acting under a rogatory commission.
We have to talk to members of the motor unit.
I have higher-ups to answer to.
I'm the one you answer to, Cassini.
I won't let them make this about the police.
Not while I'm still breathing.
Homer The Odyssey
Were you aware…
that Malik wanted to convert?
Yeah. He told me.
I know he talked to a priest.
He did?
Why didn't he tell us?
Kiejman's number.
They tried to force dismissal by accusing Malik of what happened to him.
It's always the same tactic with cases like this.
Cases like this?
You mean when it's a Maghrebian victim?
And the suspects are police officers, yes.
But it's not in our interest to go that route yet.
How do we prove this crime is racist?
I assume you're going to request an expert opinion?
Yes. Of course we will.
But it won't be enough. We must answer the media assault right away.
Or else it will be too late. The damage will be done.
We have something.
But we have to be quick about it and get it on the evening news tonight.
Mohamed, will you come along?
I know nothing about that.
I don't even know what you're saying. We just followed orders.
There were rioters.
We dispersed the gathering in a proactive manner.
But you pursued them down Monsieur-le-Prince?
That's against squad protocol. We're not supposed to dism--
That wasn't the question. Did you proceed on foot along Monsieur-le-Prince?
No. We stopped at the rue Racine intersection.
Why is that?
The pavement was wet. That was why. My bike went into a skid.
-A skid? -Right.
I didn't see it happen, but, uh, his bike went over.
And, uh, he wasn't injured, but, uh,
I got off to help out.
But that's all. I got back on my bike.
-That's strange. -Why?
Because there are a number of witnesses.
They all say the same thing more or less.
What do they say?
That you were on foot and that you walked down Monsieur-le-Prince.
Pursuing someone, I take it.
No, they're lying.
Officers of a police detachment? Why would they lie?
Why would they all lie?
They saw you enter 20 rue Monsieur-le-Prince.
There's no denying it.
That's impossible.
And then they saw you come out a few minutes later,
get on your vehicles and ride away.
Whoever they saw, it wasn't me.
It could have been anyone.
A lone policeman on a white bike, skidding on wet pavement,
assisted by a second officer.
Who else in the unit has a white motorcycle?
No one.
I have the only one.
So, you're the officer who fell?
Come on. I just told you. Yeah, I skidded out.
Afterward, I was stunned. And, I mean, possibly we could've, uh--
uh, could've pursued rioters. It's possible, yeah.
So, you did enter the building.
No.
We'd, um…
We-- Yeah, um…
I, uh--
I did see fellow officers having trouble subduing some protestors, yeah.
And, uh, I-- I just wanted to assist them. That's all.
But I didn't punch anyone.
No one punched anyone.
We went in and there was, uh…
uh, a little jostling.
And then we just left.
We left right away.
Yet, a witness saw one man go back inside the stairway.
And he had his gun drawn when he came out.
Yeah, well, it's possible. Uh…
Oh, that's right. Now I recall.
Because we were in a hall chasing protesters.
Right. Then they quickly ran back out and started to flee.
Then we started to give chase, but I noticed, uh…
uh, somehow in the scuffle, I dropped my gun.
And then I asked Giorgi to-- to help me find it.
Giorgi?
Yeah, Giorgi.
Schmitt told us he sent you to look for his gun.
You can't make that up.
-Why are you protecting him? -I'm not protecting him.
If he dropped his weapon, then he deserves a reprimand.
It doesn't mean he's a murderer.
So, you admit you entered the building?
Mm-hmm.
And so, when you reached the place in order to look for Schmitt's gun,
did you see anything in particular?
Someone lying on the ground?
No. Not that I saw.
Well, wait. Yeah. There was just one guy, uh…
He was somebody, uh, from the building. He's the one.
He had found my gun, picked it up, gave it to me. Then he went home.
And I went back to my squad.
One second.
Public Prosecutor Michel Jéol has issued
a statement regarding this case, that is to say, the death of young Malik.
The cause of death was something he called cardiac decompensation
in the context of trauma,
and that the injuries on their own, uh, incurred in the beating,
by themselves, can't be considered the cause of death.
The investigating judge has requested an additional expert opinion and…
Enough television.
I won't listen to any more of this.
They finished the autopsy. Very well.
Now they need to return my son
so I can bury him with dignity beside his father in Algeria.
You know, Mom, I--
I'm not sure that's what Malik would have wanted.
What?
I don't think Malik thought it was important to be buried there.
I'm not sure if he discussed it with you--
Discussed what?
Never mind.
It's not important.
We'll do as you say.
Hasn't she already suffered enough?
And lying to her, is that better?
I just wanna do what Malik would want to do.
And he was French. That's all.
We should have the funeral here.
Turn up the sound.
Furthermore, Mr. Kiejman, the lawyer for young Malik's family,
disputes the official version as to the cause of death and circumstances,
and they do so after examining the case file.
In this file, we have a statement from the EMS coordinating doctor,
from which I will read you a few lines.
In regards to Malik, the doctor says, and I quote,
"At the time of the incident, this person was not suffering from a heart attack,
was struck hard in the back of the head.
I consider this person clinically deceased.
However, it would be best not to share this information with the demonstrators
in order to avoid any further incidents."
I think it's deplorable that this important information was omitted
from the so-called objective announcement by the authorities today,
Christine Villemin was brought…
Yeah, he's good.
Right?
That shifts the pressure to the other side.
They'll have some explaining to do.
Is he all right?
Let it go.
He's trying to prove that he is the one protecting Mom.
Why are you protecting him?
Mr. Giorgi I'm not protecting him. If…
You could have prepared them a bit.
I wanna help, but I can't protect them from themselves.
It's obvious their statements are littered with bullshit.
The investigators would've made them crack if I hadn't put a hold to it.
So I hope they make use of the extra time to get their stories straight.
I didn't know about the weapon.
I get the feeling there are a lot of things you don't know.
Listen, if my men did something wrong, they will have to answer for that.
And if it's my command that's at fault, I'm in the hot seat.
It's a matter of honor: Mine and that of the police.
Commendable, but that's not really the problem.
My job is not to jam all the gears up. On the contrary.
I have to ensure the machine doesn't stop running,
so the police can continue to serve us without hindrance or insult.
Understand?
You're dismissed, Commissioner.
Come on in. It's ready.
None of the police officers acknowledged having struck the student, Malik Oussekine
Agent Garcia and Brigadier Chief Schmitt were interviewed by the IGS inspectors.
You all right, Jissé?
Yeah. I'm fine.
I know someone at the consulate.
He can help you bring the body home. But you must act quickly.
Mohamed doesn't want to.
He is the one to decide, and his sister agrees with him.
I don't have it in me to argue with them anymore.
They think they're French.
It's our fault…
for letting them think this is even possible.
Garcia admitted to entering the lobby.
They're starting to break.
If he confessed, why not book him then? It seems simple.
They might actually wait till they work up a case
against other policemen they think also participated.
I'm sure there will be a preliminary hearing.
Perhaps even a reconstitution.
All things considered, this is great news.
So let's take heart.
The reason we're meeting today…
Uh, as you know, I'm occasionally in touch with the president.
Mitterrand has already expressed his grief for Malik.
He would like to personally offer his condolences to your mother.
What arrangements have you made for the funeral?
We'll have a quiet ceremony in Meudon.
It will be easier on my mother if he's close to home.
I understand, but it won't be easy to maintain your privacy.
And I'm not really sure it's best either.
Malik means so much now.
To so many people.
So, you didn't tell me about your first day.
You told me nothing at all, not one thing.
-How did it go? -It was fine.
Sure, it was fine, but what was it like?
-Well-- -Jissé!
Who is that?
Hmm?
Hello, ma'am.
Hello.
They-- I work with them.
-Ah, more like friends. -Ah.
-What a pleasure. -Delighted.
Pleasure, ma'am.
Oh, we just came to say a quick hello and chat with our buddy here.
How nice.
Go upstairs. I'll see you in a few minutes.
We got a couple of things to talk about. He'll be up in a little while.
Oh, it's no problem. Have a nice day.
-Have a nice day. -Have a nice day, ma'am.
What's up? You're MIA. What's going on?
-Excuse me. -Hello.
-Hey. -Hello.
You have a nice mom.
And it's good that you help her with the shopping.
You're a good son.
Nothing's more important than family, huh?
What do you want?
Just a little courtesy visit to make sure everything is okay, that's all.
Yeah, because family, that's what's important.
And, in our family, we take good care of each other.
Do you understand?
Look at me.
Did you go talking bullshit?
I didn't name anyone.
I said nothing.
Misunderstandings can happen. You panic.
Say things you wanna take back. How old are you?
I'm 22.
Well, there it is. Just a kid, huh?
Kids make mistakes.
You still have time to take it back. Did you know that?
Witnesses saw it all, man.
That's not a problem. Witnesses can say what they want.
That guy we saw there?
We're not afraid. No one will find him.
We made it clear he should keep his mouth closed.
Come on. You're a good guy. Go back and tell the truth.
Make your mom proud, all right?
"I recommend you show some restraint for once," I said. I was irritated.
Pow! He looks decisive.
So that was obvious disrespect.
Pulling myself together immediately, I use my intimidation technique for effect,
blowing his mind, in short, showing him that he was going to regret it.
-Poof! Poof! "All right…" -Could you pass me my sweater?
"You idiot!" Blatant aggression! I was in a state of agony! I was dying!
It was churning in my brain. It was smoking. It was farting.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Once again.
Pop! Pop! Pop! And it was clear.
Pow! Whoa!
Mr. Williams!
Should I call in to work?
I'll tell them I'm sick so I can stay with you.
NATIONAL POLICE
No, that's all right.
You shouldn't have problems because of me.
You know, this job is only temporary.
I'll find something else.
I promise.
Red light, green light. One, two, three!
JUNE 10, 1973
Red light, green light. One, two, three!
Malik, you're out!
But that's not fair!
Red light, green light. One, two, three!
Oh, Ali! Throw it here!
You deaf or something?
What's this?
My name is not Ali. My name is Miloud.
Miloud.
If you don't know my name, call me sir.
If you say so.
Play the game, René! That guy is nobody!
Did you see that? Who do they think they are?
Unbelievable.
Let's go, kids. Let's go home.
Pardon me. Thank you. Excuse me. Let me through.
We're standing right outside the building
where the family of Malik Oussekine lives in the city of Meudon.
He's the young student who died during the demonstration just three days ago
and who will be buried at Père Lachaise cemetery.
…statements from one of the police is that…
…Sergeant Garcia confessed to having struck young Malik Oussekine.
Thank you.
And Fatna, where is she?
Come on. Call her, please.
Fatna Oussekine?
What's this about?
No!
-Just a little closer. Come on. -Step back. You hear?
-Please, step back.
Yes, it is President François Mitterrand.
President Mitterrand, excuse me!
President Mitterrand, one question for Channel 2, please!
-Mr. President!
Was the family notified in advance of your visit?
President Mitterrand, please!
-He's here!
-Hello, ma'am. -Hello.
-Ma'am. -Welcome.
Hello.
-Hello. -Hello.
Hello.
Is that where you'll be sitting?
Uh, yes.
In that case, if you don't mind,
I'm going to move this to make room for my tripod.
There we are.
-Shut up!
So you prettied yourself up, filthy whore!
No, please! Don't, please! I'm begging. Stop!
-Shut up!
Stop!
-Shut up! -Hey! What are you doing there?
Hey, you're not Zorro, grandpa! Get out of here!
-I've already called the police! -Let's go.
-Here. Let me help you.
You all right?
Mrs. Oussekine, thank you very much for welcoming me into your home.
-Hello, Mr. President. -Hello.
Hello.
-Hello. -Hello.
Hello.
CRS, SS! CRS, SS!
CRS assholes!
Get on him! Stay on him! Go!
Stop right there!
Stop where you are!
Come on!
Hurry up! Let's go! Let's go!
Excuse me, sir! Excuse me! Please, sir!
Let's begin, Mr. Bayzelon.
The first time I saw Malik Oussekine was on rue Monsieur-le-Prince.
He was being chased by the police.
JULY 5, 1977
Homer The Odyssey
-Miss you! You too, okay? -Don't worry.
-Mmm. -I will think of you every day, you know?
What are they doing?
Hurry it up!