Kylian Mbappe has released a statement calling for an end to the riots engulfing France.
The World Cup winner and Paris native took to Twitter to say that the “violence must end” as unrest continued for a fourth night across the country.
Tens of thousands of police officers have been sent into the streets in an effort to head off widespread rioting following the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old, with commuters rushing home before transport services closed early for safety reasons.
The police officer accused of pulling the trigger on Tuesday was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide after prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met”.
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Here is the France international’s translated statement in full:
“Like all French people, we were marked and shocked by the brutal death of young Nahel. First of all, our thoughts go out to him and his family to whom we present our sincere condolences.
“Obviously, we cannot remain insensitive to the circumstances in which this unacceptable death has occurred.
“Since this tragic event, we have been witnessing the expression of popular anger whose substance we understand, but whose form we cannot endorse.
“Coming for many of us from working-class neighbourhoods, these feelings of pain and sadness, we also share them.
French police stand in position as fireworks go off during clashes with protesters Pic: AP
“But to this suffering is added that of assisting powerless to a real process of self-destruction.
“Violence solves nothing, even less when it inevitably and tirelessly turns against those who express it, their families, loved ones and neighbours.
“It is your property that you are destroying, your neighbourhoods, your cities, your places of fulfilment and proximity.
“In this context of extreme tension, we cannot remain silent and our civic conscience encourages us to call for appeasement, awareness and accountability.
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“That of social actors, parents, big or small brothers and sisters in our neighbourhoods, who must work to restore peace to our cities.
“The ‘living together’ to which we are attached is in danger, and it is our responsibility to all to preserve it.
“There are other peaceful and constructive ways to express yourself. It is in this that our energies and our thoughts must be concentrated. The time of violence must end to give way to that of mourning, dialogue and reconstruction.”
Mbappe previously tweeted about the incident on Wednesday saying: “I feel bad for my France. An unacceptable situation. All my thoughts go out to Nahel’s family and loved ones, this little angel who left far too soon.”
