George Floyd protests give Traore family hope for justice

George Floyd protests give Traore family hope for justice

As protests over the brutal killing of George Floyd grip the world, the family of a French man who died in police custody are calling for justice.

Emer McCarthy reports.

When protests triggered by the brutal killing of George Floyd reached France, last week protesters were chanting another name, too: Adama Traore.

''Unfortunately, the death of George Floyd that sent a chill around the world echoed what happened to my brother.

They died in exactly the same way.

Adama carried the weight of three armed police on his body.

He suffered force to his abdomen, that's what the police said on the evening of the death of my little brother." Adama Traore was celebrating his 24th birthday in July 2016, when three police officers restrained him using the weight of their bodies.

By the time he was delivered to a police station, he was unconscious and could not be revived.

Just like George Floyd, he was black.

For the past four years his family have demanded French police be held to account for his death but no one has been prosecuted.

Medical experts are unable to agree on whether the way he was restrained killed him, or if it was an underlying medical condition.

The global anger over the killing of George Floyd is giving his family's campaign for justice new impetus.

"Let me just say that what's happening in France is worse than in the United States.

When George Floyd died - sure, there were pictures - but the police officers were suspended and condemned straight away.

In France, the policemen in my little brother's case were visited by the then-interior ministers." The Traore family and their supporters are this week calling for a nationwide day of protests in France.