Amine Kessaci lost two brothers to gang violence. Now he’s running for office in Marseille

Описание: (10 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris - 3 February 2026
1. French anti-drug activist, Amine Kessaci, speaking

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marseille, France - 22 November 2025
2. Crowd gathered in Marseille protesting against drug violence and the killing of Mehdi Kessaci, Amine's brother
3. Police in the crowd, faces half-covered and standing in front of Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris - 3 February 2026
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Amine Kessaci, municipal election candidate in Marseille:
"At 17, I buried my older brother Brahim, who was found burned. A few months ago, less than three months ago, I buried my younger brother Mehdi, who had done nothing wrong, who died because he was my younger brother. So what do you want me to be afraid of, who do you want me to be afraid of? My speech, and I said it very early on in my mourning, in the mourning I'm going through, and the message I want to convey today is that I will not be silent."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marseille, France - 22 November 2025
5. Pan of protest in Marseille against drug violence and the killing of Mehdi Kessaci, protesters holding banner reading (French): "For Mehdi, for the Republic, for Marseille, we march."
6. Person lighting candle memorial for Mehdi Kessaci

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris - 3 February 2026
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Amine Kessaci, municipal election candidate in Marseille:
"When I decided to be a candidate, it wasn't a decision I made alone in isolation. I called, I consulted, and today, we are in the digital age, we can campaign through social media, we can campaign via the press. I've worked on events and I'm working on events where I will bring people to me, bring in community leaders, people from the neighborhoods who know others, who will bring people, and I will bring them in (to talk to them)."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marseille, France - 7 February 2026
8. Wide of Marseille port
9. Wide of Marseille sign on hillside

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris - 3 February 2026
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Amine Kessaci, municipal election candidate in Marseille
"And then there will be times when I'll be on the ground. In France, in 2026, in a state governed by the rule of law, you cannot prevent people from coming and going. So on that there is no issue, I will continue field visits. Of course, I won’t announce where I will be, of course I won’t say at what time or at which location. But I will stay on the ground because my commitment was born in the field. The ideology, the idea, the causes I defend, they are in the field and they require that presence."
11. Mid of Kessaci in cafe
12. SOUNDBITE (French) Amine Kessaci, municipal election candidate in Marseille:
"The ‘narcocracy’ is this power they have to influence our lives: to block entrances to housing projects, to control who can come and go, to instill a sense of terror, to buy social peace, with things like swimming pools, especially during the summer where drug traffickers have paid for pools. This is where drug traffickers show a certain intelligence. They understand they cannot replace the state. Nevertheless, they do take over some of its roles, some of its prerogatives. For this reason, we need a comprehensive response. As a candidate in the municipal elections in Marseille on the list of the outgoing mayor Benoît Payan, I advocate for the return of community and proximity policing, which Nicolas Sarkozy when he was president, his interior minister dismantled."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marseille, France - 7 February 2026
13. Wide of residential buildings on hillside
14. Wide of buildings

ASSOCIATED PRESS





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