Loïk Le Priol, an ultra-right activist, is on trial this Wednesday in Paris for the beating of Edouard Klein, a former official of the GUD, the far-right student union Gud, in 2015.
Four other defendants, also gravitating in the ultra-right movement, are tried alongside him for "willful violence in a meeting, with the threat of a weapon and premeditation".
This 27-year-old former soldier is also the main suspect in the murder of former Argentinian rugby international Federico Martin Aramburu last March in Paris.
The nine videos published by Mediapart show a real session of humiliation.
On October 8, 2015, for long minutes, Edouard Klein was beaten up, insulted, dragged to the ground and forced to undress by his former comrades from the GUD (Groupe Union Défense).
The scene is filmed by Loïk Le Priol, a figure of the ultra-right, also indicted for the murder of the former Argentine rugby player, Federico Martin Aramburu, on March 19, 2022 in Paris.
The 27-year-old former soldier will be tried, along with four other men, this Wednesday by the Paris Criminal Court, for "willful violence in a meeting, with the threat of a weapon and premeditation", against Edouard Klein.
That evening, Loïk Le Priol, who is at a party at Edouard Klein, asks four friends to join him, including Romain Bouvier, also indicted in the assassination of the Argentinian rugby player and Logan Dijan, head of the GUD in Paris.
In turn, the five men attack their host, strike him "many kicks and punches", threaten him with "a knife", and force him to "undress completely", a scene filmed entirely by Loïk Le Priol.
“Obscure” motives
But why such an outburst of violence?
For the Paris prosecutor's office, the "reasons" for this beating "remain obscure".
Edouard Klein himself does not seem to know the reasons for his attack.
On the ground, beaten up, he asks his attackers: “For what reason?
".
“You talked too much.
(…) When we talk, we act behind it,” replies Loïk Le Priol, without specifying what it is, before continuing the humiliation: “You’re just shit (…) You’re the idol of fascism?
Are you the boss of the GUD?
But you're nobody look at you!
".
After reactivating this far-right student union in 2010, Edouard Klein led it until 2012 before leaving for the FNJ (National Youth Front) and passing the torch to Logan Dijan.
On the side of the five men, the version is quite different.
According to Loïk Le Priol, Edouard Klein would have boasted several times during the evening "of having raped women".
A dispute broke out between the two men and Edouard Klein suggested that he come back a little later in the evening with his four friends to "discuss and put their differences to rest".
Despite the arrival of his associates, the former head of the GUD continues to boast, says Le Priol, who explains that the small group did not “support these remarks”.
Repeated humiliation
Yet the humiliation does not stop at the first blows.
After several slaps, Edouard Klein is on the ground.
“Come on, get up, assume for once!
Wear your balls!
[…] You're a fucking Frenchman, take it!
[…] You don't even dare get up.
[…] The little French that you had in you, you didn't even wear it,” continues Loïk Le Priol.
"Last chance to get up or we'll strip you naked," warns Logan Djian, who then forces him to undress, before adding: "Either we beat you up, or you take it off."
Edouard Klein, who is dragged by force to his room, repeatedly begs his attackers to stop.
But his attackers turn a deaf ear.
Naked, Edouard Klein is forced to kneel, naked.
Loïk Le Priol puts a knife to his throat: “You know that I killed more than one of the guys over there, you know that?
», Launches the former soldier, who carried out missions in Mali and Djibouti.
“The cutthroat goes very fast, you know that?
[…] Drop my knife, otherwise I will bend your hand, ”he shouts.
The five men force him to stand up and dance the "Macarena", threatening him to broadcast the video.
A veteran of justice
“Traumatized”, Edouard Klein decided not to go to trial, according to his lawyer, Me Léon Lef-Forster.
He was recognized for twelve days of total incapacity for work for his physical injuries and thirty days for the “psychological impact”.
"He remains terribly scarred," he explains, adding that if his client is not in the process of revenge, he hopes for "recognition of what he has suffered."
He "wants to completely turn the page", "including political commitments" which were his, he adds.
The five defendants face a five-year prison sentence and a fine of 75,000 euros, but some, repeat offenders, could be sentenced more heavily.
Starting with Loïk Le Priol.
Before being indicted for the murder of Federico Martin Aramburu last April, the young man had already been sentenced in 2017 to a one-year suspended prison sentence for violence and a four-month suspended prison sentence for intentional violence. in meeting.
His past in the army also risks being underlined by the prosecution.
Enlisted in the special forces in Mali and Djibouti between 2013 and 2015, he was accused by a prostitute of having "strangled and hit" her.
The soldier was discharged from the army in the summer of 2015 for his violent behavior.
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