A young French campaigner, who set up an association to help victims of drugs violence and took their cause to President Emmanuel Macron, has lost a second brother to suspected criminal gangs in Marseille. Amine Kessaci's 20-year-old brother Mehdi was parking his car in the centre of the city, when a motorcycle drew up and the pillion passenger opened fire with a 9mm pistol.
Their elder brother, Brahim, was murdered in 2020, found shot and his charred body left in a burned-out car, a common method in gang killings known locally as a 'barbecue'. Marseille is renowned for worsening drugs wars, with rival gangs from high-immigration neighbourhoods in the north of the city battling over territory.
While Amine's murdered elder brother, Brahim, was known to have become involved with drugs gangs, investigators say that was not true of Mehdi, who had ambitions to become a policeman. They fear the murder was a warning aimed at Amine. Marseille chief prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said on French radio that this theory was not being ruled out, indicating that another tragic threshold might have been crossed in the cycle of violence that has gripped the city.
After his elder brother's murder, Amine Kessaci established an association called Conscience, focused on helping young people resist the influence of drugs gangs. A high-school student at the time, he later ran for the Green Party and wrote a book titled 'Marseille Wipe your Tears – Life and Death in a Land of Drugs'. Now 22, Amine lives under police protection following death threats.
Local city councillor, Christine Juste, expressed her dismay, stating, 'No mother should go through that — losing two children.' With vendettas leading to continued cycles of revenge killings, Marseille has seen 14 drugs-related murders this year, as Amine's organization attempts to provide support to families affected by this violence.}
Their elder brother, Brahim, was murdered in 2020, found shot and his charred body left in a burned-out car, a common method in gang killings known locally as a 'barbecue'. Marseille is renowned for worsening drugs wars, with rival gangs from high-immigration neighbourhoods in the north of the city battling over territory.
While Amine's murdered elder brother, Brahim, was known to have become involved with drugs gangs, investigators say that was not true of Mehdi, who had ambitions to become a policeman. They fear the murder was a warning aimed at Amine. Marseille chief prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said on French radio that this theory was not being ruled out, indicating that another tragic threshold might have been crossed in the cycle of violence that has gripped the city.
After his elder brother's murder, Amine Kessaci established an association called Conscience, focused on helping young people resist the influence of drugs gangs. A high-school student at the time, he later ran for the Green Party and wrote a book titled 'Marseille Wipe your Tears – Life and Death in a Land of Drugs'. Now 22, Amine lives under police protection following death threats.
Local city councillor, Christine Juste, expressed her dismay, stating, 'No mother should go through that — losing two children.' With vendettas leading to continued cycles of revenge killings, Marseille has seen 14 drugs-related murders this year, as Amine's organization attempts to provide support to families affected by this violence.}
