Medhi Kesasi, the 20-year-old younger brother of anti-drug activist, writer and political candidate Amin Kesasi, was murdered in broad daylight in the southern French city of Marseille on Friday.
Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Besson said, “A motorcycle pulled up next to the victim’s car, which had just parked. The passenger on the motorcycle shot the victim several times.”
Besson said it was possible that the murder was meant to serve as a “warning” to Casasi, whose anti-drug campaign is well known throughout the country.
Casasi is not only active in reaching out to victims through his NGO Conscience, but he has also run unsuccessful campaigns for national and EU office and recently wrote a book about the toll drug trafficking has taken on Marseille and its residents. He lives under police protection.
French activist says state cares less about drug violence in poor neighborhoods
The 22-year-old Kesasi became active in politics in 2020, after his older brother Brahim – who was involved in the drug trade in a poor northern Marseille neighborhood – was murdered and his charred body found in a burnt-out car.
Kesasi said his brother died because he “believed in a rotten dream.”
He also accused French officials of being indifferent to the problems of the country’s poorest areas.
“The people who should be ashamed are the rich kids,” Kesasi told AFP news agency in 2024. “They are the ones who consume drugs,” he added, adding that “their hands are stained with blood.”
Fourteen people have died in drug-related crimes in Marseille this year.
Amin Kaysasi was ‘a father figure’ and inspiration for the killer’s younger brother
Amin Kesasi’s murderous younger brother Mehdi wants to become a police officer.
Speaking to AFP about Amin’s candidacy for parliament, he said that his older brother “was always a father figure to me” and that he was proud to see him running for office.
He said, “To see him on television, on posters outside, to see him getting involved in politics in such a difficult area – especially for a young person like him – it makes me happy.”
Edited by Shawn Sinico