France: further information on the fatal shooting of child refugee: appeal against ruling that police officer who shot Todor Bogdanovic should not be prosecuted

On 18 September 1997 an appeal court in Aix-en Provence (Chambre d’Accusation de la Cour d’Appel d’Aix-en-Provence) will consider an appeal against a judicial ruling that there were no grounds for prosecution (non-lieu) of a police officer who shot and killed eight-year-old Todor Bogdanovic. The child was a member of a convoy of Roma from a village in Serbia who, in August 1995, were crossing the border between Italy and France to seek asylum in France. Amnesty International is concerned that the ruling, made in December 1996 by the investigating judge of Nice, not only contradicts the findings of the initial police inquiry but also the police rules regarding use of firearms and the Penal Code provisions on the limits of legitimate self-defence.


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