The violent hazing of the young soldier in Solenzara, in Corse-du-Sud, may find an echo in court.
The Marseille prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation after the complaint of a soldier who had suffered, in Corsica, a very violent hazing in 2019. The man in his twenties had been tied up to a shooting target on a air-base.
The investigation is entrusted to the research section of the air transport gendarmerie "on the basis of acts of violence with weapon and with premeditation", indicates the prosecution in a press release.
In March 2019, the young soldier, who had just been assigned to Orange (Vaucluse), was taken to the Solenzara base "to hazel him on purpose", according to his lawyer, Maître Frédéric Berna.
His new colleagues had tied a bag to him over his head, before tying him up and throwing him "violently" in the back of a pick-up, launched at high speed on Corsican roads in poor condition.
Aircraft flights and live fire
Arrived at the air base, his torturers had tied him to a pole, then left him alone, blinded under his bag.
For about twenty minutes, the soldier then heard planes pass around him and carry out live fire, "a frightening and impressive noise" soon relayed by simulated shots in his direction, it is indicated in the complaint.
Beyond the civil investigation, an internal investigation is underway. The Air Force indicates that it has carried out a command investigation into this hazing and has pronounced "firm sanctions" against those responsible, without specifying its nature.