Akhmed Samhal

Akhmed Samhal was only 19 years when, in 2005, the riots burst out in the French suburbs. Everything started in Clichy, when three adolescents were found dead in an electric cabin after trying to escape from the police. After five days of riots, the final result was 2,000 vehicles burned, dozens of arrested and 13 stabbed police officers. In that extremely delicate situation, the statements of the minister of the Minister of Interior Sarkozy was that he wanted to “get rid of the scum of the suburbs” only added fuel to the fire. The key event of the following peace-building was the gesture of Akhmed who, after his erroneous injury by a police officer, publically forgave him by inviting everyone not to be taken in over the deception by those who “want to turn the sons of the same desperation against each other”. Today, Akhmed is working as a correspondent for “Liberation” and manages a multicultural aggregation center in Clichy. His girlfriend is an officer in the Paris Gendarmerie"