Two youths indicted in the death of Shemseddine were released on Friday due to a legal loophole. The hearing took place before the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal.
Since July 1, a legislative vacuum has prevented the provisional detention of minors under examination for a crime while awaiting trial. The two youths, initially indicted while minors, are now adults and were released after the hearing.
In April 2024, Shemseddine, a 15-year-old middle school student, was beaten in Viry-Châtillon in Essonne by adolescents from a neighboring neighborhood. He died the next day in hospital. Of the five people initially indicted for murder, only two are now prosecuted for voluntary assault in a group causing death.
Me Pauline Ragot, lawyer for the victim’s mother, said the decision resulted from a “succession of procedural faults and failures leading to a real judicial shipwreck.” She added that it would be necessary to explain to the mother “that the individuals who killed her child in barbaric conditions are now free.”
The Constitutional Council had censored a provision in June 2025 and given the legislator one year to comply. The government plans to table an amendment in mid-July in the criminal justice bill.
