Second brother of French anti-drugs campaigner shot dead in Marseille, prosecutor says

A 22-year-old French campaigner who established an association to help victims of drug violence has lost a second brother to suspected criminal gangs in Marseille.

Amine Kessaci's 20-year-old brother Mehdi was parking his car in the city centre when a motorbike drew up and the passenger opened fire with a 9mm pistol.

"A motorbike drew up beside the car of the victim, who had just parked. The backseat passenger on the motorbike shot the victim several times," Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said on Friday.

Bessone also said in a statement that the young man had no criminal record. Their elder brother, Brahim, was murdered in 2020.

He was shot and his body was later found in a burned-out car, a method that is common in some gang killings and has been nicknamed locally as a "barbecue".

The murder could have been a "warning" to Kessaci, Bessone said. The investigation is still in its early stages.

Activist Kessaci had been under police protection since last month after writing a book that told the stories of the victims of drug trafficking in the city.

Last year he told the media that his older brother Brahim was the only one in his family to have fallen into the drugs trafficking scene.

Kessaci, who grew up in the northern neighbourhoods of Marseille, founded a non-governmental organisation called Conscience in 2020 which supports the families of those killed.

At least 14 people have been killed in drug-related crimes since the beginning of this year across the Marseille region, according to official figures.