It is one of the deadliest arson attacks in the capital in recent years.
From Monday, November 30 and until Friday, December 11, the Paris Assize Court judges the man accused of causing the death of eight people in 2015 by setting fire to the building at 4 rue Myrha , in the Parisian district of Goutte-d'Or.
Read also: Fire in Paris in a migrant home: eight injured
This case is also the story of a terrible miscarriage of justice.
Shortly after the incident, Mourad S, a 36-year-old Algerian homeless man in a legal situation, was arrested near the building in possession of several lighters.
No matter how much he proclaims his innocence, he is indicted for "degradation by dangerous means resulting in death" and imprisoned in Fresnes.
This ideal culprit did not get out of prison until September 2016 after the confession of Thibaud G., now 24, the man who is being tried from this Monday.
Read also: Fire on rue Myrha in Paris: a former tenant indicted
Clue after clue, the investigation ended up removing the responsibility of Mourad S. The building at 4 rue Myrha was equipped with a digital code but no fingerprint of the homeless person was found there, nor on the rest of the street. crime scene.
Neither his hands nor his clothes revealed the presence of flammable liquid.
By unwinding the thread of a possible neighborhood quarrel, the police then became interested in the occupants of this five-story building.
The man who alerted the firefighters around 2:30 am on September 2, 2015 is the tenant of the 2nd, Thibaud G. He tells them that his letterbox on the ground floor has been on fire.
The firefighters did not notice a fire starting but picked up a charred paper under the letter boxes.
Two hours later, the firefighters were called to start a new fire at the same address.
This time, the fire is serious and the building has turned into a blaze.
Flames invaded the stairwell and reached the apartments.
People are screaming at the windows.
"Imaginary friends"
To escape the fire, two inhabitants defy themselves, six are discovered charred in their apartment.
Among the eight victims, four members of the same family of Senegalese origin, including two children aged 8 and 14.
Several testimonies show a dispute between this family and Thibaud G. Residents also tell that the emergency services have never intervened as much as since the tenant moved into the building in March 2015. Between June 24 and September 3, 2015, Thibaud G. thus exchanged 59 calls with the emergency services.
On September 20, 2016, a little over a year after the fire, investigators arrested the young man at his home.
A few days earlier, Thibaud G. had taken part in a rally in tribute to the victims ...
“We are here so as not to forget.
These are always images that come to haunt us, cries, smells.
We're here to get together.
We are also there because we feel abandoned by the investigators, the judges in charge of the case, the public authorities, the prefecture, the insurance companies ... ”
he then confided to the journalists.
Placed in police custody, the young man confesses to the police having set fire to a stroller left in the entrance.
Research on his computer reveals his extensive research on fires.
During his interrogations, he said little more about the reasons for his action, explaining that he was under the influence of
"imaginary friends"
.
The arrest and indictment of Thibaud G. allowed the release of Mourad S., but not the end of his galley.
He was not dismissed until the end of April 2019 and is still awaiting compensation for his year lost behind bars.
"It's scandalous.
We filed for compensation after the dismissal.
And since then, nothing! ”
, indignant his defender, Me Paul Fortin.
The lawyer plans today to engage the responsibility of the State for
"this major dysfunction"
.
