A preliminary investigation has been opened for possible pressure on the jurors of an assize trial for assassination, in March 2021 in Ajaccio, which ended in a general acquittal, a judicial source told AFP on Thursday.
On March 31, 2021, five men were acquitted by the Ajaccio Assize Court of the murder of Jean-Michel German, a 35-year-old mechanic who was fatally injured by several shotgun and revolver shots in Alata, a neighboring village of Ajaccio, September 7, 2016. Advocate General Carine Greff had requested sentences of four to 25 years in prison against the five defendants, aged 28 to 36 and who denied all the facts.
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The preliminary investigation was opened "
during 2022
" for "
pressure or threats against the members of a court
", this judicial source told AFP.
The investigation was handed over to the federal police.
It follows the discovery in the telephone of a person unfavorably known to the police and justice services of several photos of the list of jurors for the session of the Assize Court of Corse-du-Sud in the spring of 2021, a this source told AFP.
For each assize court, an annual list of jurors is drawn by lot from the electoral lists.
Then, for each session of assizes, during which several trials take place, "
the president of the tribunal de grande instance or the first president of the court of appeal draw lots publicly, from the annual list, 35 jurors to form the list of the session and 10 alternate jurors to form the special list
”, specifies the website
courdassies.fr
.
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“
This list is not a secret document since it is given to the parties (defence, civil parties and public prosecutor) of the trial, but when it is found with someone who was not intended to have it, it raises questions.
“, Explained this judicial source.
According to the daily Le Monde which revealed this case, it was "
during the search of Johann Carta's phone
", who was "
presented by the courts as the steward of the affairs of the Petit Bar, the dominant criminal group in Corsica- South
", that this discovery took place.
The public prosecutor's office had appealed the judgment of this assize trial and if a change of scenery of the appeal trial had been envisaged, it was ultimately not retained.
This appeal trial should take place in 2023 before the Assize Court of Bastia, said this judicial source.
