The Briton Robert Dawes, alias "
Drug Lord
"
,
tried in Paris for "
false public writing
" and "
attempted fraud in judgment
", defended himself on Tuesday from being the author of the forgeries for which he appears alongside his two former lawyers, tenors of the Parisian bar.
“
Without these false documents, I was almost guaranteed to be acquitted.
Instead, I was heavily sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Not for
cocaine trafficking
but because of these false documents
, "said the defendant, closely watched in his glass box by four armed and hooded police officers.
False document
Almost 50 years old, Robert Dawes was tried before the Paris Assize Court in December 2018 for his alleged role in international drug trafficking.
The prosecution was then essentially based on a telephone interception of Robert Dawes, carried out as part of a Spanish procedure and on which he could be heard claiming ownership of 1.3 tonnes of cocaine seized in September 2013 by the Office center for the repression of illicit drug trafficking (Ocrtis, which has since become Ofast, Anti-Narcotics Office) after being transported to France via a Caracas-Paris flight.
At the hearing, before the Assize Court, the lawyers for Robert Dawes, Mes Joseph Cohen-Sabban and Xavier Nogueras, two experienced criminal lawyers, had caused a dramatic change by producing a supposed Spanish order presenting telephone tapping as illegal key to the accusation.
Except that this document was a fake.
Appearance of lawyers
The two lawyers are appearing today before the criminal court for "
complicity in attempted fraud in the judgment
" and "
violation of professional secrecy
", and risk one year in prison, a 15,000 euro fine and above all losing their authorization to work.
exercise.
During their interrogation on Monday, both claimed to have been "
trapped
", "
fooled
" and "
manipulated
".
“
If for a second I realize it's a fake, I'm dead, that's the end of everything!
How I would apply for Robert Dawes bail with a fake, risk losing my dress!
But what do I have to do with the freedom of this Robert Dawes
, “said, visibly moved, Me Xavier Nogueras.
Tuesday, Robert Dawes was not tender with his former lawyers who, according to him, “
did not do their job
” by not verifying the veracity of the incriminating documents.
“
They are not the origin of the fakes
,” he admitted, however.
Set up
Why produce fakes anyway?
The Briton assured the court that he knew he was being watched by the Spanish police and that his statements (listened to by the investigators), which he himself admitted, were only "
provocations
".
In his lengthy pro domo plea, the Briton, speaking through interpreters and who knows the case inside out, suggested it could be a set-up by the National Crime Agency (NCA) British.
The 22-year prison sentence of Robert Dawes, who is also subject to an extradition request from the Netherlands for an assassination case, was confirmed on appeal in July 2020.
Read alsoCrack: Is Darmanin right to say that drug trafficking between France and Senegal is "insignificant"?
For the prosecution, Robert Dawes would be at the origin of the forgeries with the help of accomplices.
It highlights in particular an exchange on WhatsApp in August 2018 between Robert Dawes and one of his relatives, Evan Hugues, dismissed for “
false public writing
” and “
attempted fraud in judgment
” and tried in his absence.
"
Our job is not to win against the prosecution because it is impossible, but to convince the judges that they cannot reach a decision with such doubt
", wrote Robert Dawes to his friend, suggesting "
arrange the truth
” (“
to merge in with truth
”).
At the start of his trial in the criminal court, Robert Dawes explained that he had made a typo.
He wanted to write "
emerge
" and not "
merge
".
