17 May 2018

New Caledonia shooting to be re-enacted for court

3:27 pm on 17 May 2018

It has been announced in New Calednia that next Wednesday there will be a re-enactment of the 2016 fatal shooting of a prison escapee William Decoire near Noumea.

There is renewed concern that the justice sytsem treats Kanaks unfairly

There is renewed concern that the justice system treats Kanaks unfairly after the death of William Decoire Photo: AFP

The public prosecutor said on the behest of the victim's mother, the events would be reconstructed along the road in St Louis.

In January last year, a probe concluded that police acted in legitimate self-defence because Decoire tried to run over an officer.

However, his family disputed the police account and lodged a complaint for homicide.

French police officers in New Caledonia.

French police officers in New Caledonia. Photo: AFP

The shooting incident in October 2016 unleashed weeks of violence and disrupted travel along the main road to the territory's south.

The violence subsided after a number of arrests and the killing of another prison escapee in a confrontation within St Louis.

In February, seven men were jailed for up to eight years for firing at police officers, injuring about a dozen of them.

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