It is “
never-seen
”, assures Me Anne-Charlotte Mallet.
Against a background of drug trafficking and acts of torture, three men are tried from Monday June 14 in Bobigny for "violation of the secrecy of deliberation" and "corruption of jurors".
In 2019, during a trial, one of them leaked the verdict on Snapchat.
He faces up to one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros.
Read also: Secret of the investigation: prosecutors and investigators must be able to communicate more
The other two defendants are being prosecuted for "participation in a criminal association", "concealment of violation of professional secrecy", "act of intimidation towards a juror to influence an authority to obtain a favorable decision".
They face some charges of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros.
"A threatening and difficult climate"
Me Anne-Charlotte Mallet, the lawyer for the victim of the 2019 trial, remembers it as if it were yesterday. “
After days and days of debates, in a threatening and difficult climate, the lawyers withdrew from the Bar Association. We waited for hours and then the clerk contacted us, telling us that we could come back and that the chair would give the ruling. As we were leaving the Bar Association, I saw one of my sisters turn pale. She told me that the deliberation had fallen. We hadn't even entered the courtroom. I wondered to what extent the decision could have been rendered under correct conditions
, ”reports
the lawyer
to
Le Figaro
.
Me Mallet learns that two of his client's aggressors are sentenced to terms of seven and fourteen years in prison, and that the other criminals, six in number, are acquitted.
“
The decision did not correspond to the elements of the file, so, initially, I did not believe my colleague.
My client was tortured, raped with heated batons, drowned, tied up, locked up for three days with the sounds of horror and torture films in the background.
It was facts of extreme cruelty
, ”says the lawyer, whose client, a drug conveyor between Spain and France, was implicated by his attackers, who accused him of having stolen a part. of cargo.
"Not fooled"
“
It is an extremely serious fact and which taints all the rest of the debates and the decision which was precise.
There is no question that we can corrupt court decisions in this way
, "said the lawyer, stressing that the general counsel"
insisted that proceedings be immediately initiated
".
“
Everyone was flabbergasted.
My client went into a monstrous anger, he was shouting 'parody of justice'.
I had to get him out,
”continues Me Mallet.
Read also: Seine-et-Marne: doctors will be able to break medical secrecy to report domestic violence to justice
At the end of the 2019 trial, an investigation was opened by the Bobigny prosecutor's office, for “violation of the secrecy of deliberation” and “corruption of jurors”, and entrusted to the judicial police of the department. The investigation establishes that two men approached a 22-year-old juror during the trial. In addition, one of the two grew up in the same city as the juror, explains a source close to the investigation.
During his custody, this young man "
without history
" with a clean criminal record admits having leaked the verdict. "
He explained that he was afraid because he knows the pedigree of the two loustics
" with well-filled criminal records, we told AFP. Throughout the investigation, the question arose whether this substitute juror could have influenced the jury. "
Nothing proves it
", blows an investigator. This trial is above all to "
show that justice is not fooled
", continues this source. "
The problem is upstream, why this juror was not challenged?
"
"
We must not make this trial an instrumentalisation against the assize courts, against the popular juries
", alarms Me Agathe Grenouillet, lawyer of the juror.
“
The Assize Court remains in my opinion the most beautiful jurisdiction.
We are not going to exclude the population for a miscarriage of justice,
”she said.
To read also: "Breach of secrecy": the former Minister of Justice, Jean-Jacques Urvoas, referred to the Court of Justice of the Republic
A few days after this trial which "
marked the spirits
", the president of the Assize Court, Philippe Jean-Draeher, alerted his hierarchy to "
the difficulty of judging criminals in Seine-Saint-Denis
", in a note internal addressed to the president of the Paris Court of Appeal.
This experienced magistrate reports “
totally unfounded acquittals
”.
An appeal trial for the acts of torture was however held in Paris in June 2020. The sentences handed down were then heavier: of the six people retried, four had been found guilty and punished with sentences of up to 15 years. jail.
