He evades justice, but does not forget the procedures.
A 19-year-old man, Fatah Merdji, has appealed his conviction for killing a college student in a car in Reims in 2019, even though he is currently at large.
According to
L'Union
, it was his lawyer who carried out the process, so that his client could be retried.
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On October 12, 2019, Valentin A., a twelve-year-old college student of colleague Paul-Fort, was struck by Fatah Merdji, while he was crossing a city boulevard with his father, on a pedestrian crossing. It had been thrown 70 meters from the point of impact, while the vehicle was traveling at high speed with all lights out. Valentin A. died five days later in hospital. In the car, a rental SUV used by several young people from the Red Cross district, the driver was carrying three other people, and did not have the license. “
In the neighborhood [...], everyone has wind of the accident, many are aware of what happened, who is involved but no one dares to speak. It is the law of silence that predominates
», Declared later the deputy prosecutor to describe the atmosphere in the residential area.
The young delinquent, 18 years old at the time of the facts, is well known to the courts, since he carried out his first crime recorded at 13 years old, was placed in a disciplinary home at 15 years old, and has already served in prison . For the homicide of young Valentin, the accused was also arrested at the Châlons-en-Champagne remand center in February 2020: he was serving a sentence there for drug trafficking. Returned to detention, he was finally released, because his imprisonment was at the end of the period prescribed by law. He therefore appeared free in May for his trial. When questioned, he ended up confessing that he was driving the vehicle. The court had sentenced him to 7 years in prison. His acolytes were also condemned, for non-assistance to person in danger and the removal ofan object relating to a crime or an offense: two years in prison including six months closed for Fayed Jonny, 20 years old, and two years including one year closed for Youness El Hadafef, 23 years old. The fourth passenger, a minor, must be tried by a juvenile judge.
For Merdji, the court had attached its decision to an arrest warrant, because during the deliberation, the defendant had fled, taking advantage of the suspension of the session on June 1. He was gone, handcuffs on his wrists. He has still not been found to this day, which hasn't stopped his lawyer from appealing the seven-year prison sentence.
