The trial of four "yellow vests" suspected of having forced the entry of the then government spokesman, Benjamin Griveaux, on 5 January was canceled on Wednesday due to a procedural flaw, but without provoking discontinuation of prosecution.
The Paris Criminal Court upheld the arguments of the defense lawyers, who disputed the lawfulness of the proceedings because they had not been able to converse with their clients when they left police custody. After the cancellation of the hearing, the prosecution indicated that it intended to request a new trial.
Three men aged 22 to 35 and a 47-year-old woman
The four defendants, three men between the ages of 22 and 35 and a 47-year-old woman, were prosecuted for damage and for the theft of a forklift truck that had been used to drive the Ministry's wooden doors, rue de Grenelle in Paris. during the act 8 "yellow vests". A violent intrusion denounced as an "inadmissible attack against the Republic" by Benjamin Griveaux, who had been forced to evacuate his offices. The latter has since left the government to run for mayor of Paris.
INFO EUROPE 1 - "We were shouting, we made the idiots": the version of the "yellow vests" that pushed the door of the Ministry of Griveaux
In court, the lawyers of the four protesters lashed out at an "infringement of the rights of the defense", explaining that they were prevented from talking to their clients after their 48 hours in police custody and before their presentation to the prosecutor. They also denounced "a desire to make justice show", criticizing the prosecutor for having asked to judge this file "more than a thousand pages" in immediate appearance rather than take the time to entrust the investigation to a judge of 'instruction. This trial had already been referred twice.
"The parquet floor wanted to go too fast"
"In this case, justice has been used in the service of police forces," responded to the hearing Bérenger Tourné, the lawyer of one of the defendants. "The prosecutor wanted to go too fast, it is quite symptomatic of what happens since the movement of 'yellow vests'," responded Martin Mechin, counsel for another questioned. "Even if there are tensions, incidents in the street, there are rules of law to respect." For him, "the file was fragile" concerning the three defendants who did not drive the cart. "It is not certain that they will be called again" to appear in court, he said.
The cancellation of the trial "does not change the investigation and the file," warned Wednesday prosecutor Pascal Besnier. The Paris prosecutor intends to take requisitions to demand a new trial, he said.