The memory is precise.
The images still sharp.
The atmosphere anchored in memory.
This feeling of living a drama that will enter the collective memory.
At the Juvisy-sur-Orge police station, in Essonne, everyone remembers what they were doing on October 8, 2016 when, around 3 p.m., four of their colleagues were violently attacked by a gang of young people determined to "kill du cop ”at the entrance to the Grande-Borne district, straddling the towns of Viry-Chatillon and Grigny.
The two patrols were stationed at the crossroads known as du Fournil to protect a mast supporting a CCTV camera regularly attacked.
Sixteen assailants, dark clothes on their backs, faces concealed, gloved, then surrounded the cars and threw the incendiary devices into the cockpits.
The police were beaten as they tried to escape.
Stones were thrown at them to keep them trapped in the blaze.
READ ALSO>
Viry-Chatillon trial: the reasons for a misunderstood verdict
To find the attackers, investigators used anonymous information.
The suspects are members of the "S gang" which is used to meeting at 17, rue Serpente in Grande-Borne.
Telephone studies then show them that the facts had been premeditated.
"We were called to tell us that a vehicle had been attacked"
In December 2019, of the thirteen accused, aged between 16 and 21 at the time of the crime, eight were sentenced to terms ranging from 10 to 20 years of criminal imprisonment.
Below the requisitions of the general counsel, who asked for 20 to 30 years.
The two young people who received the heaviest sentence were under judicial supervision in another case of violence at the time of the attack on the police officers.
Both also participated in the assault aimed at intimidating one of the co-accused on December 27, 2016. Five other accused were acquitted, the elements against them being insufficient according to the jurors.
The public prosecutor's office having appealed, a second trial opens on Tuesday before the Paris Assize Court.
From a distance, the police officers of Juvisy-sur-Orge will keep an eye on the debates which must take place until April 16.
Jean-Michel
(the first name has been changed)
, who spent 20 years in the constituency, remembers this day.
He was working and patrolling the side of the N7.
“We were called to tell us that a vehicle had been attacked.
From where we were, we could already see the smoke.
We said
to ourselves
:
They are burning a car
, he says.
When we arrived, we immediately understood that the colleagues had been attacked. ”
Newsletter The essential of 91
A tour of the news of Essonne and Île-de-France
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
The aggressors have disappeared in the wild.
"If they had been there, we would have pursued them until they caught up with them," continues Jean-Michel.
There were a lot of people, it's as if time has stood still.
Frozen.
We looked around for colleagues to see if they had had time to get out of the cabin. ”
"For my client, this trial will be a test"
The four policemen are alive.
Sébastien, 38 years old at the time of the incident, was burned in the hands.
He lay down on Vincent, 28, a security assistant, the most seriously injured officer.
The flames seriously affected him in the face, limbs and torso.
Philippe
(the first name has been changed)
, a police officer who worked for a long time in Juvisy-sur-Orge, is close to the official who has since been promoted to peacekeeper.
Today he reveals himself: "He still regularly undergoes operations."
He has therefore not been able to return to work for the time being.
Jenny and Virginie, were also injured, beaten.
They are, like Sébastien, stationed in the provinces.
“For my client, this trial will be a test, notes Me Thibault de Montbrial who assists Jenny.
There is not an accused who has recognized.
We are faced with omerta and denial. ”
And to add: “This is the first time in France that Molotov cocktails have been thrown so coldly.
Homicidal intent was expressed in a particularly intense way.
Since these facts, the Molotov cocktail has become commonplace. ”
At Sébastien and Virginie, there is a desire to move forward according to Me Laurent-Franck Liénard, their lawyer: “They want to turn the page and try to survive.
This new trial is theirs, but they want to look at it with detachment. "
None of the police officers wanted to answer our questions.
“It was a turning point in my career,” continues Jean-Michel.
We can't forget that, I think about it all the time.
It also helps me a lot on a daily basis to keep vigilance.
We use this event with young people who arrive in our department and are very demanding in interventions. ”
And when he walks past this CCTV mast, he can't help but say to himself: "All that for that."
"In the days that followed, we spent eight hours a day in the neighborhood to put pressure"
Morgane
(the first name has been changed)
, knows this camera well since a few days before the events, she was there.
To protect her.
This October 8, 2016, she was not working.
“I learned about it on the WhatsApp group,” she rewinds.
We didn't expect that.
It touched us all.
And that motivated us to find the authors.
In the days that followed, we spent eight hours a day in the neighborhood to build up the pressure.
We controlled everyone.
The attackers did not realize what it was going to do behind ... "
Today, nearly five years after the events, Morgane still thinks about it often: “We keep in mind that we can be targeted.
We already knew it, but we didn't think it could go that far. "
Almost all clothing has since been flame retardant and cars are equipped with fire extinguishers, which was not the case at the time.
Philippe, like Jean-Michel, was also at the scene of the attack.
“It looked like a war scene after a lightning strike,” he recalls.
The shock is such that the images are not erased.
“We don't talk too much about it anymore but everyone thinks about it,” he said again.
After that, we realized that the level of violence had increased and that we could lose our lives.
A bit like September 11, 2001, we all know what we were doing that day. ”