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By Layli Foroudi
PARIS (Reuters) - A French police officer who fatally shot a teenager of Tunisian heritage during a traffic stop in 2021 was among BMX riders who took part in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, to the distress of the deceased teenager's family.
Romain Devassine, 26, shot 19-year-old Soheil El Khalfaoui as he tried to drive off during a traffic stop in Marseille on August 4, 2021.
For the past three years, the youngster's family have been pressing for justice and a murder investigation by Marseille justice authorities is ongoing. So when Soheil's aunt, Samia El Khalfaoui, saw Devassine on television as she watched the opening ceremony, the shock it delivered felt akin to "a cold shower".
"I found it indecent, disrespectful. He was there, majestic on the stage in his Napoleon costume - it was as if he was mocking us," she told Reuters.
Devassine and the interior ministry did not respond to requests for comment on Devassine's role in the fatal shooting or his participation in the opening ceremony.
El Khalfaoui is one of more than 20 people who have been shot dead by French police since 2020, most of them Black or Arab men, according to a Reuters tally.
It was the fatal shooting by police of Nahel Merzouk - a 17-year-old of North African heritage - in similar circumstances in a Paris suburb in 2023 that sparked nationwide unrest and stirred deep-seated grievances over neglect and discrimination among communities of immigrant descent.
A police watchdog report seen by Reuters shows that in questioning Devassine acknowledged he shot the teenager, saying that he did so to save his colleague's life. No charges have been brought against Devassine to date.
A French law introduced in 2017 allows police to use their firearms following a refusal to comply with a traffic stop if the driver is likely to pose a risk to their life or physical safety, or to other people's.
SLOW INVESTIGATION
Devassine published photos of the ceremony on his Instagram profile on July 27. "It was incredible to live this ceremony in the middle of the Seine with the boys," he wrote.
They had not been able to perform their stunts live because of the heavy rain, he said.
The footage that was shown on TV during the opening ceremony was recorded during the afternoon's training, according to La Voix du Nord newspaper.
The Paris 2024 organisers said all performers were hired by a production agency.
"The most difficult thing is to think that three years have passed and he is doing his stunts on TV while the investigative judge still hasn't interrogated him - if the judge had done his work, he wouldn't be on TV," said Issam El Khalfaoui, Soheil's father. The Marseille prosecutor's office declined to comment.
The family's lawyer Arie Alimi said that Devassine was still working as a police officer.
"It is a sign that the Interior Ministry showcases authors of police violence," he said.
The Interior Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for confirmation Devassine was a serving officer or to Alimi's allegation it was showcasing police violence.
(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; additional reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Richard Lough, Ingrid Melander, Alexandra Hudson)
