Wojciech Janowski, Hélène Pastor's son-in-law, taken away by the police on June 27, 2014 in Nice -

VALERY HACHE AFP

  • The appeal trial of the alleged sponsors and executors of Monegasque billionaire Hélène Pastor restarts after a postponement due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • The son-in-law of the businesswoman, Wojciech Janowski, 71, will no doubt repeat that he is "not the sponsor" and that he is "innocent".

The context is still uncertain and each of the parties hopes that the discussions will be able to go, this time, to the end.

Interrupted by confinement in March

, the appeal trial of Wojciech Janowski, sentenced to life imprisonment for having ordered the assassination of his mother-in-law, the Monegasque billionaire Hélène Pastor, is to open this Monday, 2 p.m., in Aix-en-Provence.

And it must take place over a month.

The fifteen days of hearing in March will not count and everything must start from zero without an audience, except for a few journalists.

Wojciech Janowski, 71, will no doubt repeat that he is "not the sponsor" and that he is "innocent".

The former honorary consul of Poland in Monaco "will be present", assures his lawyer.

"He is doing better despite colorectal cancer confirmed and treated at the Baumettes prison where he has been imprisoned for six years", explains Jean-Jacques Campana.

Gildo Pastor convinced of his "total guilt"

In 2018, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for instigating the ambush that claimed the lives of his stepmother, 77, and his driver, Mohamed Darwich, 63.

This crime had shaken the principality of Monaco, of which Hélène Pastor was one of the biggest fortunes, heir to a real estate empire estimated at 12 billion euros.

Gildo Pastor, the son of the businesswoman, whom she had just visited in a hospital in Nice on May 6, 2014 when she was fatally injured by bullets, will be heard by videoconference.

He intends to reiterate his "conviction of the total guilt of Mr. Janowski in the organization of the heinous murder" of his mother and his driver.

Her sister, Sylvia Ratkowski-Pastor, who shared Wojciech Janowski's life for twenty-eight years, will be present, assures her lawyer Me Dominique Mattei.

Several about-faces

For the prosecution, the motive was above all money: on the edge of the abyss, Wojciech Janowski wanted to appropriate part of the inheritance left by Hélène Pastor to her two children.

Immediately after the tragedy, the son-in-law confessed in police custody to having ordered the murder but then retracted, denying any involvement, arguing that his confession had been "extracted" from him by the police.

Until the spectacular twist of his lawyer at the time, Me Eric Dupond-Moretti.

"Wojciech Janowski is guilty of having ordered the assassination of Hélène Pastor", launched the lawyer.

In the cubicle, the accused remained silent, in tears.

The next day, before the verdict, he had confined himself to saying that he had "nothing to add".

Nine months later, in the summer of 2019, the man, whom witnesses and the prosecution described as manipulative, caused a new twist by accusing Me Dupond-Moretti of having pleaded against his will.

Condemned, his sports coach always "assumes"

This Monday, appear at his side four other protagonists.

Three have appealed their convictions.

Samine Said Ahmed, accused of firing, and the alleged lookout, Al-Haïr Hamadi, had been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Pascal Dauriac, the sports coach Wojciech Janowski allegedly charged with organizing the crimes, had been sentenced to thirty years in prison.

Omer Lohore, a relative of the lookout accused of having allowed him to recruit the killer but acquitted in the first instance, also appears after a call from the general prosecutor's office.

Pascal Dauriac, the only one to have recognized his participation in the plot, remains the main accuser of Wojciech Janowski who would have ordered him to have the billionaire killed and to organize the theft of his bag to make believe in a heinous crime.

The coach "assumes" but he appealed because "without denying anything of his guilt, the sentence of 30 years of imprisonment is a little high," said his lawyer Me Jean-Robert Phung.

Justice

The appeal trial around the assassination of Hélène Pastor dismissed sine die

Pastor trial

The double murder would have been ordered for 140,000 euros, says one of the accused

  • Court of Appeal

  • Aix en Provence

  • Nice

  • Trial

  • Justice

  • Assassination

  • Monaco