Nearly 6,200 people gathered in Marseille on Saturday to pay homage to Mehdi Kessaci, killed on November 13 by two motorbike assassins. The event, organized by the Conscience association founded by his brother Amine, was marked by emotion and calls for justice against narcotrafficking. Politicians from all sides joined the silent white march.
On Saturday, November 22, 2025, a large gathering took place at the Claude-Darcy roundabout in Marseille's 4th arrondissement, where 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci was shot six times in the thorax on November 13. A BTS banking student and police guardian exam candidate, Mehdi was killed, according to his brother Amine, 'because he was my brother,' in an intimidation attempt linked to his anti-narcobanditism activism.
Amine Kessaci, 22, an ecologist militant and founder of the Conscience association—which aids narcohomicide victims—called for this silent white march at 3 p.m. Nearly 6,200 people, per the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture, attended, joined by officials including Mayor Benoît Payan, Olivier Faure, Marine Tondelier, Manuel Bompard, Maud Bregeon, Vincent Jeanbrun, and Yaël Braun-Pivet. Payan urged: 'Don't be afraid,' stating that 'this mafia will not silence us.'
In a letter read by relatives, Amine said: 'On behalf of my torn family, I thank you for mobilizing. My brother was innocent; he had his life ahead of him. [...] I demand justice for Mehdi. I will not be silent. [...] Narcotrafficking controls, narcotrafficking corrupts, narcotrafficking kills.' He added in an audio recording: 'We speak because we know silence kills.' The brothers' mother, through a letter read by Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, pleaded: 'It must stop for all families struck by this scourge. I demand justice and peace. [...] It's time' for the government to grasp the situation.
Surrounded by RAID officers, the gathering featured slogans like 'Justice for Mehdi!' and a minute of silence. Investigators are pursuing all leads, prioritizing a scenario involving a prison commanditaire, without yet identifying the killers' commando.
