• The trial of the six alleged attackers of Dorian Guémené, who died in July 2018 under beatings at the exit of a nightclub in Rennes, is continuing before the Assize Court.

  • Dorian's best friend, who was punched that night, recounted the scene and the discovery of his roommate, unconscious on a sidewalk.

  • Kévin evokes multiple blows received at the exit of the L'Espace nightclub and waits to know the truth.

His two hands are placed on the desk of the large courtroom of the Assize Court of Ille-et-Vilaine. His slender body sometimes seems disjointed when he swings his legs when the president's questions are the most painful. Wednesday, on the third day of the trial at the assizes of the aggressors of Dorian Guémené, who died under the blows this summer evening, it is his best friend Kévin who was heard by the court. The latter was a bartender in Kenland, where he had met Dorian a year earlier. The two young men had become very close friends and lived together. That evening in July 2018, they had worked hard to serve the customers of the bar in the Place des Lices, in the euphoria of the victory of the French football team in the World Cup. After a few drinks,the two friends had joined the L'Espace nightclub around 4.30am. “I kinda forced Dorian out that night. He wanted to go back to see his girlfriend, he was adamant ”. He will eventually give in. The two friends will come out of the club an hour and a half later, after some verbal altercations with clients of the establishment at night.

Coming out of the back of the box located on Boulevard de la Tour-d'Auvergne, Kévin and Dorian do not imagine that they will be attacked by six individuals.

“When we left Space, we were quiet, we weren't afraid.

Dorian was a little in front of me.

It happened super fast.

He took direct hits.

I intervene and I also take blows.

I fall to the ground and receive kicks and punches.

That's where I lost sight of Dorian, ”says Kévin.

“He was full of blood everywhere.

The whole head was filled with blood ”

When he finds his friend, the young bartender discovers the horror. Lying on the ground, Dorian Guémené is unconscious. “He was full of blood everywhere. The whole head was filled with blood. He was disfigured. I slapped him in the face a few times to tell him: wake up, wake up, ”his friend continues before stopping, frozen with emotion, and shedding a few tears. In his white shirt, the bartender never changes version. Yes, there were a few insults exchanged in the smoking room of the nightclub, but no shots. Above all, he assures that only four of the six alleged attackers were present at that time. Why did two students with no history get involved in the fight? He has no idea. "I had never seen them".

Before starting the story of that night that claimed the life of his best friend, Kévin described Dorian's behavior. “We did everything together. He was not violent. He liked to defend people in difficulty. He couldn't stand injustice ”. On a few occasions, he and his friend had been involved in nightly altercations, without it resulting in more than a few hits. That evening in July 2018, it was a real relentlessness that cost his friend his life. “You can't kill someone like that, it's not possible. There is no reason to do this. You have to know who struck the last blow in front of Space. I ask that they take responsibility for their actions. There was blood on the window, it was violent. I would like us to know a little bit about the truth. That we can move on ”,said the young man, marked for life by this tragedy.

This Wednesday, the Assize Court should hear the six defendants.

Five of them are suspected of having struck Dorian.

Only one man is on trial for destroying evidence.

The question which will be at the center of the debates is already known.

Who dealt the fatal blows?

Since the start of the investigation, the friends have shifted responsibility to each other.

The trial will last until October 22.

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