Justice and Trial, which had been six years late, finally came to fruition.
On March 26, 2017 in Paris, France, a Chinese man was shot dead by French police at his home.
He left behind his wife and five children.
According to the French police, the man was holding scissors and attacked the police, so the police opened fire in self-defense.
But according to the deceased's daughter, the situation at the scene at that time was completely different.
His father was preparing dinner at home, holding scissors to clean up the fish, when several police officers came to knock on the door.
The knocking on the door grew louder and louder, and finally turned into a direct knock on the door.
After the door was slammed open, the first police officer rushed in
without any warning
The case shot the deceased.
This tragedy caused great anger among the Chinese community in France.
In the six years since the incident, the family of the deceased has not stopped appealing for justice, but they have been beaten back again and again.
Finally, on November 24, 2023, the French civil court handed down its verdict,
There was "gross negligence" on the part of the French authorities,
Compensate Liu's family with 138,000 euros.
Hua Nan was shot dead while killing fish at home
The family members and the police have their own opinions
At around 8 o'clock in the evening of March 26, 2017, Liu, a 56-year-old French Chinese, was killing fish at his home in Paris and preparing to cook dinner for his family.
Suddenly, three French policemen broke into the house, and Liu was shot dead.
Why did the police suddenly come to the door and break in?
It turned out to be Liu's neighbor, a retired veteran police officer, who called the police to report that he saw Liu making a loud noise holding something that appeared to be a knife and seemed to be emotionally unstable.
So the police came to check on the situation.
After the incident, according to the police, Liu attacked a police officer with a "sharp weapon" at that time, so shooting him was self-defense.
Regarding the type of "bladed weapon", according to Le Parisien, it was a pair of scissors, and according to the sheriff at the time, it was a knife.
But Liu's daughter, who was at the scene at the time, said that the situation was not at all as described by the police.
But Liu was killing fish in the kitchen, and there was a knock at the door, and the youngest daughter saw through the door mirror that there were three people with guns standing outside, two men and one woman, and she did not open the door.
But the knocking on the door became louder and louder, so Liu came out of the kitchen to check, and then the police began to bang on the door.
After the door is slammed open,
Immediately the gunshots rang out,
His father didn't have any time to attack the police, so he fell to the ground.
Liu's family said that he did not have any intention of hurting people at the time, and was holding scissors because he was still scraping fish scales before checking the door.
In addition, according to Liu's daughter, the police did not identify her before knocking on the door and breaking in.
The Chinese crowd was outraged
The family continued to appeal
After the shooting, the emergency department tried to rescue Liu, but there was no way back, and Liu died, leaving his five children and his wife.
This incident has aroused great anger among the Asian American community in France, especially the Chinese, who have organized many street demonstrations to demand justice.
On Monday night, the day after the incident, about 150 protesters gathered outside the 19th arrondissement police station, chanting "murderers" slogans and spelling out the words "No to violence" with candles.
An angry group broke through a barricade set by police, threw missiles at them, and set fire to a car.
On Tuesday morning, about 100 Chinese Parisians gathered at the police station. The protesters shouted in French:
"Justice must be done,
The murderers must be punished. ”
Subsequently, 6,000 Chinese protested in the streets of Paris, believing that the police were using excessive force.
Protesters held a moment of silence in honor of the deceased under a banner reading "The police are murderers, we want justice" and a portrait of Liu under the statue in the middle of the Place de la République in Paris.
In fact, Chinese in France often feel underprotected and ignored by the local media for their plight.
Pierre Picard, a China expert at the University of Paris VIII, said:
"The Chinese are victims of racist attitudes in France, especially other ethnic groups such as Arabs. ”
"They are easy targets for crime because they often carry cash and many do not have residency permits, making them vulnerable to threats. They are outraged that the police are not giving them adequate protection. ”
In September 2016, after a Chinese tailor was beaten to death, some 15,000 people rallied in protest to call for an end to discriminatory violence and racial tensions.
"The Chinese don't like to protest publicly or express their ideas, so when we see them like this,
It means that they are very, very angry.
They have had enough of discrimination. ”
It is reported that there are about 2 million Chinese in France, more than any other European country.
After learning of the incident, China "immediately ordered the embassy in France to activate the emergency mechanism and lodged representations with the French side, demanding that the French side find out the truth of the incident."
French police announced on March 28 that they had opened an investigation into the incident.
Liu's family was grief-stricken and determined to seek justice for him.
However, the progress was unusually smooth, and the outcome of the trial was difficult for the family to accept.
At the first trial in July 2019, the police officer was ruled not to be prosecuted.
In November 2020, an appellate court found that the police shooting was justified and again ruled against prosecution.
The family decided to appeal to the French Court of Cassation. But on February 16 of this year,
The Supreme Court decided
Liu's family's appeal will not be accepted.
Seeing that there was no way to file a lawsuit in the criminal court, the family finally decided to file a lawsuit in the civil court, and finally won the case.
The Civil Court ruled
The authorities are guilty of gross negligence,
and ruled that the state should pay attention to Liu's wife and daughter
Payment of 138,000 euros in civil compensation.
(about 227,000 Australian dollars, 1.067 million yuan).
At this point, this long-overdue justice has finally arrived.
The lawyer representing Liu's family said,
"This verdict sets a precedent in the history of French justice, when the police were dismissed for malfeasance, and the civil courts still found the authorities guilty of gross negligence".
Overseas Chinese have been repeatedly treated unfairly
Despite the rise of China's international status in recent years, overseas Chinese communities continue to suffer unfair and discriminatory treatment from time to time.
In 2020, Liu Huifeng, a Chinese businessman in Australia, was convicted of involvement in foreign interference by the Australian Security Authority (ASIO) and the federal government, and his visa was revoked.
The ABC has made several lengthy reports on this, describing Liu Huifeng's normal social activities as a businessman as "espionage".
Just last Friday (November 24), the Australian Federal Court handed down a landmark judgment in Sydney:
Revoke the decision of the Minister of Home Affairs to refuse to grant Liu Huifeng a Business Skills (Permanent Residence) visa,
It also revoked the two negative assessments made by the director of the National Security Bureau against Liu Huifeng, which were not conducive to national security.
And Liu Huifeng's litigation costs need to be compensated!
The victory of the civil prosecutor's lawsuit is another great victory for overseas Chinese to fight for their legitimate rights and interests and against unfair treatment.