One more death. In the early hours of Saturday Morning (7 July), our friend N., 28 years old, from Sudan, died in Calais town centre. His body was dragged out of the canal near the Sub-Prefecture. As often in the past, the police have been point blank refusing to allow friends and family access to his body, or to hold an inquest into his death. They have already prepared their story about his death, which is starting to unravel as more evidence comes to light.
Not because it bears any relation to the truth, but this is the official line: N stole a mobile phone in the town centre, he was chased by a friend of the "victim", and somehow he managed to fall or jump into the canal, where he drowned. Apparently there is no need for an autopsy or inquiry. No need to explain police movements that night just before N died. No need to wait for evidence that he stole anything. This story, straight from the mouths of the cops, was parroted by the local hate-rag "La Voix du Nord" without further investigation. A migrant. A black man. A thief. An accident, maybe even a well-deserved death.