Pallade Veneta - Thousands rally in France after murder linked to anti-drug activism

Demonstrators chanted "Justice for Mehdi" before observing a minute of silence at the roundabout where the 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci was shot dead by a gunman in his parked car on November 13.

Investigations are ongoing but authorities consider the murder to be a "warning crime" linked to the anti-drug activism of his brother Amine Kessaci, 22, who was welcomed by cheers as he joined the crowd on Saturday.

Amine Kessaci is now living under police protection and the gathering was marked by heavy police presence in the southern port city hard hit by drug crime.

The young anti-drug and environmental activist threw himself into campaigning after his half-brother Brahim was murdered in a drug-trafficking feud in 2020.

"I demand justice for Mehdi. I demand justice for Brahim, my other murdered brother. I demand justice for all the victims. I demand safety for my family," said Amine, whose presence at the gathering wasn't confirmed until the last moment due to security concerns.

A former lawmaker has called for him to be awarded France's highest order of merit, the Legion of Honor, but the activist said it was "the mothers of the neighbourhoods (hit by drug crime) who deserve a decoration for their courage, their dignity, their daily struggle".

"For years we have been raising the alarm, we have been speaking out because we know that silence kills. Each retreat by the institutions has facilitated the advance of drug trafficking," he said on Saturday via a recorded message played to the crowd.

Marseille has been struggling to battle drug crime, with more than a dozen people killed since the start of the year in turf wars and other disputes linked to cocaine and cannabis dealing.

"Fear cannot beat us," said Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan.

"We must resist and fight them, wage a war against those who kill for money," he added, calling for unity and refusing to let Marseille be labeled a "narco-city".

- 'Scourge' -

Politicians from across the political spectrum joined the gathering, Mehdi's death having sparked a nationwide focus on drug crime, with initiatives also planned in some 25 other towns and cities.

Many laid white flowers at the spot where Mehdi, who aspired to become a police officer, was killed.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has called the crime a "turning point" and President Emmanuel Macron urged France to step up its actions and use the same approach it has used against "terrorism".

While drug-related homicides often make front-page news in Marseille, Mehdi Kessaci's killing stunned the city.

Activists were among the crowd of more than 6,200 people, where some carried white flowers and wore white shirts.

For 72-year-old activist Anne-Marie Tagawa, the gathering would be a moment of "reflection, but also for us to say we are not ok with what is happening".

She said disadvantaged neighbourhoods were "fertile ground that has been abandoned by institutions, the State", leaving them those who would turn them into places where crime thrives and establish "systems of violence".

The bereaved mother of Mehdi and Brahim, Ouassila Benhamdi, joined the gathering, dressed entirely in white.

"My heart is torn apart. I am inconsolable. No mother wants to see her children die before her," she said in a speech, which someone finished reading for her as she was overcome by grief.

"I am asking the government to grasp the gravity of everything that is happening," she added.

"This must stop, for all the families affected by this scourge."

E.M.Filippelli--PV