It was sort of a trial of animal cruelty. A young man, tried after throwing a live calf over a bridge was sentenced Monday to 10 months in prison, including four months closed by the Bastia criminal court. Kept in detention, he is also prohibited from keeping an animal for three years and has an obligation of care for two years.
This sentence is lower than the requisitions of the prosecutor, Caroline Tharot, who had requested 16 months in prison, 10 of which closed, with continued detention. The parties have ten days to appeal the decision.
The facts, which unfolded in 2019, were broadcast on video only a few weeks ago on social media. The scene had in particular scandalized associations defending the animal cause, nine of which had become civil parties. The hearing gathered many people around the city courthouse: supporters of the young defendant or animal rights activists were opposed on the court forecourt.
"I wanted to shorten his suffering"
During the hearing, Jean-Dominique Orsoni thus recounted this evening of April 2019, where he said he struck the calf on his return from a rather watered party, on the road to Corte. "I saw that he was limping, I deduced that he had a broken leg, I wanted to shorten his suffering", explained the one who was 18 years old at the time of the facts reports France 3 Via Stella .
In addition, the young man refused to deliver the identity of the person who filmed the scene then broadcast on social networks. To explain his gesture, he assured to have struck the animal in straying, an explanation rejected by a lawyer of the civil parties, Me Anna Maria Sollacaro, who put forward the fact that his vehicle had not suffered "no damage".
The latter, representing the Animal Assistance Foundation, and Me Valerie Vincenti, representing SPA France, both civil parties, said they were "satisfied" with the judgment. “This criminal response shows that the gravity of the facts is taken into account. This decision, rendered by the criminal court, is also reassuring for the future, for all other cases of acts of cruelty, ”added Me Sollacaro.
"My client's place is not in prison"
The lawyer of the defendant Me Marc-Antoine Luca, who put forward during the hearing a difficult love breakup to explain the actions of his client, for his part considered that "the arguments developed by the defense (had) partially been heard ”.
“The requisitions were too high. My client's place is not in prison, he owes his detention to media pressure and the commotion on social networks, ”he declared at the end of the hearing.
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The breeder was originally to be tried in immediate appearance. On July 2, he had thus been summoned by the courts but his counsel had obtained a dismissal to better prepare his client's defense. While awaiting trial, he was held in Borgo prison.