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A few years ago, Amal Bentounsi had a «normal» life. This Sidi Kacem-native who is soon turning 44, was a self-employed international trader in catering and import and export. Then the vagaries of life fell on this mother-of-four.
On April 21, 2012, her brother Amine was shot by a police officer in Noisy-le-Sec, in Seine-Saint-Denis. «I have never thought I would be an activist one day; I went from a trader who made a very good living to an activist who made a lot less», she told Yabiladi. «My brother was about to turn 29 years old. It was tragic. I stopped everything. I lost the strength to carry on with my life».
But it was bigger than her, it is was above all the fights she had ever got into. «The courage to hold on», is at the heart of the battle she started against police violence.
A few months after the death of her brother, in November 2012, she founded the collective «Urgence, notre police assassine» (Urgent, our police kills) following a meeting with several families who lost their loved ones to police violence. Later, she founded an association, the National Observatory of Police Violence. «It would never have been authorized under the name 'Urgence, notre police assassine'. At the time, the name of the collective indeed aroused the anger of the police body, including the then French Interior Minister Manuel Valls», she said.
«Families withdrew from the collective because they found the name too radical and feared possible repercussions on their families. I chose this name to warn the public opinion. Today we are indeed talking about police violence, but I was straight to the point since the beginning of my fight : I am talking about police crimes», she said.
«People could relate to the speech I had with seasoned activists who had been fighting for many years but who had not managed to gain the visibility that we had at one point»
Vocation
As she experienced that family tragedy, Amal Bentounsi took part «directly and indirectly» in the investigation, in particular by trying to bring convincing elements to her lawyer.
«My brother was the perfect client for this case : he was a troublemaker with a chaotic past ... I don't deny it. The media reported that a repeat offender, a thief, was killed as a result of a robbery. This approach implied that my brother was robbing when he was killed, and this is also what I believed in the beginning», she recalled. A few days later, the investigation revealed that her brother has been shot in the back and self defense was not considered. «I joined the civil party on the Monday following his death». Amine died on the night of Saturday April 21 to Sunday April 22.
She also organized marches in Noisy-le-Sec in tribute to her brother, the first of which brought 3,000 people together. Very quickly, her actions paid off : from a single witness in the beginning, six appeared before the judge in charge of the case. The police officer was given a five-year suspended prison sentence.
This personal fight has pushed her to never stop growing. She is indeed studying to become a lawyer.
«I have always followed my brother's chaotic journey. My parents worked here and there to make a living, so I was the one taking care of my brother. When he was detained in Fleury-Mérogis at the age of 13, becoming the youngest prisoner in France, I wrote to the judge begging him not to put my brother in prison. I never got an answer. It forged something in me».
Amal Bentounsi still remembers the songs her brother listened to, especially those of Renaud. He had memorized the words of famous Renaud song «l'Héxagone» by heart and had even started teaching them to his friends. «He said to me, 'listen to the words!'»: «France is a country of cops / On every corner of the street there are a hundred / To make public order prevail / They murder with impunity».
