Le Figaro Bordeaux
He is accused of having shot several times at his ex-wife and mother of their three children, Chahinez Daoud, and of having set her on fire in front of their home in Mérignac, on May 4, 2021. Sent before the assizes of the Gironde in order to be tried for
“assassination by spouse”
, Mounir Boutaa refutes this charge.
“Mr Boutaa contests premeditation and therefore the qualification of assassination from the start. He was initially indicted for murder
,” explains Maître Éléna Badescu, who defends him alongside her associate, Maître Anaïs Divot. The two lawyers appealed the charging order, dated February 28, this Monday.
In a closed hearing set for May 16, the investigating chamber must now determine whether to maintain this charge, punishable by life imprisonment, or to reclassify it as
“murder of a spouse”
with a maximum penalty. amounts to 30 years in prison in the absence of a prior crime.
Assassination or murder?
Unbelievably barbaric, the murder of Chahinez Daoud took place while the victim, in the process of divorcing her executioner, had filed a complaint against him for domestic violence on several occasions before the tragedy. Contacted by
Le Figaro
, the Bordeaux public prosecutor's office explained
"requiring the maintenance of the qualification provided for by the investigating judge, aggravating circumstance of premeditation included"
. A position supported by the victim's parents, defended by Maître Julien Plouton, who were at the origin of the procedure to reclassify the indictment of Mounir Boutaa as
"assassination"
.
On the day of the trial, the accused will also have to answer for
“deliberate violence with a weapon”
against his ex-spouse, who is a repeat offender, as well as for
“deliberate destruction by fire”
of their home.