A 28-year-old man was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended, this Monday, at the Bobigny court, in the case of assaults and threats that shook the OPH of Aubervilliers in 2022. For several months, the HLM office, which manages about 8,000 housing units, had lived to the rhythm of threats against its director Jean-Baptiste Paturet, and various assaults on agents. In September 2022, the director even came face to face with a hooded and gloved man, who pointed a gun at him, without firing.
A few months earlier, bullets and tags threatening the jambisation guards had been discovered in the reception desks. At the end of January, a guard was also shouted at by two men on a scooter: "Why do you work for Paturet? He's here to f*** everybody," they reportedly told him before handing him a cartridge. He warned: "We know his itinerary (...) in a suburban area. »
On 14 February, an Airtag-type locator beacon was discovered on the general manager's vehicle. The investigation linked the iCloud account using it to that of Isame E., who had already been convicted by the courts. It was also able to establish that the same account had been used from Aubervilliers at the address of T.A., a trade union representative at the DPO who was then the subject of dismissal proceedings.
Many facts could not be clarified
Taken into custody, the two men denied any connection with the events that took place at the HLM office. They had declared themselves to be mere acquaintances, connected by T.A.'s brother. When confronted by the police, Isame E. explained that he had put this tracker in order to steal the car's rear-view mirror after damaging an equivalent model belonging to a friend. He said he did not know the vehicle belonged to the director. T.A., for his part, denied having connected to the beacon. He was not prosecuted.
For admitting to having planted the tracer, Isame E. appeared in court as part of a "prior plea of guilt appearance", where the defendant pleaded guilty. Margaux Mathieu, lawyer for Jean-Baptiste Paturet and the town hall of Aubervilliers, welcomes "this firm decision, rendered following the serious facts denounced by my client," she reacts. At the OPH in Aubervilliers, there is a climate of terror suffered by the management, threats, aggressions, and this decision clearly demonstrates this. We hope that it will put an end to this and that the DPO will be able to continue to transform itself serenely. »
On the other hand, the case was dismissed in respect of the other facts that affected the office between January and February 2022, which could not be clarified. In its dismissal order, the court stated that "Jean-Baptiste Patret's suspicions about several employees of the office were not corroborated by any element of the investigation".