"Incomprehensible" for the civil parties, verdict "media" for the defense: the Assize Court of Essonne sentenced Wednesday eight young people to terms ranging from 10 to 20 years imprisonment for the violent assault of police in Viry- Châtillon in 2016, and acquitted 5 others. Judged in private since 15 October in Evry, the convicts have been convicted of attempted murder on persons holding public authority and incurring life imprisonment. The verdict, made under police surveillance in a packed room, was greeted in a calm atmosphere.
After 13 hours of deliberation, the court did not follow the requisitions of the prosecutor who had asked Thursday, after a indictment of five hours, sentences of 20 to 30 years of criminal imprisonment against the 13 accused, aged today from 19 to 24 years old.
On October 8, 2016, two police cars parked near the Grande Borne, considered one of the most sensitive cities in Ile-de-France, were stormed in broad daylight by about twenty young people. In a few seconds, they had broken the windows and thrown into the cockpit Molotov cocktails. In a first car, both front seats ignite. A security assistant, now 31, and a 42-year-old peacekeeper are catching fire. In the other car, the two agents managed to get out despite the Molotov cocktail falling on the back seat. They will be hurt more lightly. The aggression had a tremendous impact and triggered an unprecedented sling in the police. Bernard Cazeneuve, then Minister of the Interior, had denounced "an act of war", "a barbaric, savage attack, which was intended to kill".
"Halftone decision"
"The victims were waiting for a strong signal of justice, a message to all the French people, that we do not touch a policeman ... The sentences are extremely low compared to the qualification restraint ", responded Laurent-Franck Liénard, lawyer for two of the burned policemen. Denouncing an "incomprehensible" verdict, he claimed to have "the impression" that these sentences "were not up to the crime". The same tone for the lawyer Thibault de Montbrial, who represents one of the police officers targeted. "Given the ever-increasing violence in our country, daily attacks on the internal security forces, this verdict is extremely worrying," he said.
On the side of the defense, some critics on the contrary a verdict too severe. "When you see a 17-year-old kid taking 18 years to sit down without even being apologetic to the minority, it's totally scandalous.This is a 17-year-old kid who was completely crushed by the investigation, "reacted Master Deborah Meier-Mimran whose client was a minor at the time of the facts. "It's just a media decision and it's dramatic how police unions can influence the opinion of a court of assizes," she added. Arnaud Simonard, whose client was acquitted, said he was "deeply relieved": "I measure the courage that was the court's courage to acquit him given the pressures, at every moment, political, unions "he detailed.
The 13 youth identified by the investigators were aged 16 to 21 at the material time. The investigators believe that they had planned for a few days to "fuck the keufs". A few hours before the verdict, about fifty policemen had gathered before the court of Evry at the call of the trade unions Alliance and Unité SGP. "We do not understand this low-key decision with a form of leniency and in particular sentences of only 10 years," said Loïc Travers, Alliance National Secretary Ile-de-France. "It's a denial, a denial of the humanity of the police, of those who risk their lives every day to prevent our society from sinking, and that is just unacceptable," said Linda Kebbab, delegate of the SGP Police Unit. .