Eight years after the drowning of Jallal Hami in a pond during an evening of "bahutage", the trial of seven soldiers opens Monday before the criminal court of Rennes for manslaughter.
The drama took place on the night of October 29 to 30, 2012.
The trial of seven soldiers before the Rennes Criminal Court for manslaughter began on Monday, eight years after the drowning of Second Lieutenant Jallal Hami, 24, during an integration evening at the school of Saint- Cyr Coëtquidan, in Morbihan.
Among these soldiers were five cadets at the material time, now aged 28 to 31, and two members of the school hierarchy, aged 49 and 58.
An evening of "bahutage"
Jallal Hami drowned during the night of October 29 to 30, 2012, while crossing a pond during an evening of "bahutage", that is to say "transmission of the traditions of the school".
"This is not a trial between a family of suburbanites, Arabs, Muslims against the French army," said Rachid Hami, elder brother of the victim, before the start of the hearing.
According to him, the defendants "betrayed him" and the trial should bring to light "the dysfunctions of the military institution".
On the evening of the tragedy, the new members of the school had to swim across a pond, at night, over a distance of 43 meters, with helmets and rangers, in water at 9 ° C, as part of a activity on the theme of the Allied landing in Provence.
Throwing themselves into the water all at the same time, while Wagner's Valkyrie resounded, as in Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now", many students found themselves in difficulty, drinking the cup, clinging to each other. others in a "traffic jam of swimmers".
Buoys had been thrown by the organizers to root out the students, before Jallal Hami was reported missing.
Warned an hour later, the firefighters spotted his body near the shore at 2:35 a.m.
"It's not the fault of bad luck"
"Justice must do its job and we expect individuals to take responsibility (...) It is not bad luck," said Rachid Hami.
Me William Pineau, lawyer of General Francis Chanson, who sits on the bench of the defendants, considered "completely unacceptable" this "kind of tragic event".
However, "on a strictly penal level, no responsibility can be blamed on General Chanson", he said, because "he did not know the reality of what was happening on the ground".
Jallal Hami had joined France in 1992, with his mother and brothers, to flee the civil war in Algeria.
A graduate of Sciences Po, very athletic, studying Mandarin, he had long dreamed of joining Saint-Cyr, a school where he entered directly into the third year.