22-year-old Amine Kessaci works against the consequences of drug trafficking in France's second largest city. Last Thursday, his younger brother Mehdi was murdered, a murder that many see as a warning to Amine and his commitment.
Little brother Mehdi, 20, was shot dead in broad daylight in a parked car. He had no criminal record and wanted to become a police officer.
The day after the funeral, big brother Kessaci writes in the newspaper Le Monde that he will not remain silent.
"I will write his name a thousand times and I will confront his murderers. I will be the guardian of his memory. No, I will not remain silent," writes Amine Kessaci.
“The State’s Shortcomings”
He promises to continue speaking out about the violence in the drug trade and the cowardice of those who order the crimes.
“I will speak of the shortcomings of the state, the shortcomings of the republic, the abandoned territories and the wiped out populations.”
Amine Kessaci's work against gang violence gained momentum when another brother, who had been recruited into drug gangs as a child, was murdered in 2020. Kessaci became an advocate for relatives of victims of drug-related crimes, and has called for better opportunities for young people in poor neighborhoods in Marseille.
After the murder, the then 18-year-old Kessaci formed the organization Conscience, which organizes demonstrations and discussion groups, among other things. He himself has been visible in debates in the media and a few years ago was able to discuss the issues with President Emmanuel Macron.
"Unprecedented"
Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone emphasizes that the investigation into the latest murder is at an early stage, writes France24 , but Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez is one of many who see the murder of Mehdi Kessaci as an attempt to intimidate his brother.
"The death of Mehdi Kessaci is an unprecedented crime, undoubtedly a crime of intimidation aimed at spreading fear. The drug traffickers will not win; the power of the law and the state will prevail," the Minister of the Interior writes on X.
In his submission, Amine Kessaci urges people to realize the seriousness of the situation; “understand that it is a life or death struggle.” He wants to see public services in neglected areas of Marseille, efforts to combat student failure in school, more police resources, and support for all those who have lost loved ones to drug trafficking.
“We count our dead, but what is the state doing?”
