The Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal sentenced a man to 15 years in prison on Wednesday who, after months of harassment and violence, had sprayed his ex-concubine with sulfuric acid which he did not accept. separation.
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The judges reduced the eighteen-year sentence handed down by the Marseille Criminal Court in July 2019 for violence with a weapon, with premeditation, recidivism and by ex-partner.
On June 12, 2018, Karim Bouembassa, 41, had sprayed sulfuric acid with his ex-partner and mother of their two children on a street in Marseille, near the Vélodrome stadium. He had sprayed her back and, according to a homeless man present, had tried to spread her arms to pour vitriol on her face. A trader had rinsed thoroughly with water, which made it possible to limit the after-effects on the face. For months, after his ex-girlfriend had informed her of the breakup in May 2017, Karim Bouembassa had been showing her photos of faces disfigured by the acid and threatening her.
In his requisitions, Advocate General Jean-Louis Persico had requested confirmation of the 18 years in prison handed down at first instance. " His goal, " he had said, " was that in the future the victim could not start his life again, whether it be an undead, a civil death which deprives him of all female life. He wanted to destroy him psychologically. The goal has been reached ”.
The court of appeal evokes in its judgment, that AFP consulted, a " right-of-way relationship ". The criminal record of Mr. Bouembassa mentions 28 convictions for offenses committed in 20 years, three of which relate to violence against his partner.
