At the end of his third trial before the assizes of Bouches-du-Rhône, Eric Coppolani, a man denounced by the first French repentant, was sentenced on Friday to 30 years in prison for the assassination of Antoine Nivaggioni, ex-figure of the Corsican nationalism.
“Little hand” of the Corsican criminal gang known as the Petit Bar, Eric Coppolani, 47, had already been sentenced at first instance, in March 2018, to 30 years in prison for the murder, in 2010, of this former figure of nationalism from the island.
clan war
An assassination which, according to the prosecution, was part of a war between two clans, the band of Petit Bar on one side and the clan of Alain Orsoni, a former nationalist converted into business, on the other.
On appeal, in June 2019, his sentence was reduced to 25 years, but the accused, who has always denied the facts, appealed in cassation and obtained the holding of this third trial.
The first Frenchman to have benefited, in 2015, from the protection granted to repentants, Patrick Giovannoni, had reported that during a conversation, Eric Coppolani had confided to him that he was one of the two shooters who had opened fire on Antoine Nivaggioni .
The second shooter was never identified.
The penitent had confessed to having himself played a role in the organization of this assassination by positioning a "suction cup" car on the crime scene and removing it to let the killers park, complicity which had earned him a conviction. at first instance to a five-year suspended prison sentence.
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A man shot dead in Bastia
Justice
assize court
Assassination
Corsica
Nationalist
Paca