What Paris police officers told investigators after a migrant worker died in their custody

During a march in memory of El Hacen Diarra, who died on January 15 at the 20th arrondissement police station. In Paris, January 25, 2026. BLANCA CRUZ / AFP

A body lay on the gray tiled floor of the ground floor of the police station in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, a gash above the right eyebrow visible. It was 12:20 am on January 15. After 45 minutes of CPR, first performed by police and then firefighters, El Hacen Diarra was pronounced dead. Just two hours earlier, the 35-year-old Mauritanian had been smoking, as usual, sitting on some steps a few dozen meters from the shelter where he had lived for seven years.

Subscribers only

Probe opened after migrant worker dies in police custody in Paris

An investigation to determine the cause of his death was opened in the hours following his death. The French police's internal affairs division, the IGPN, took over the case the following afternoon. The first inquiries had been carried out by officers from the 3rd arrondissement police station in central Paris before daybreak. They questioned their colleagues who had arrested Diarra. Those officers were not placed in custody, but were questioned as witnesses.