The trial which opens this Tuesday at the Assize Court of Appeal in Paris will necessarily be closely scrutinized. And not just because it is necessary to bring together at least twenty-three potential jurors, in the midst of a state of health emergency. “I am going to ask for it in camera, nothing says that they will not try to start again” warns René *, 51 years old, former drug trafficker, and civil party in this case with many twists and turns. Legal information is still in progress to shed light on these “they”, who would have put pressure on the jurors in 2019, in Bobigny, and splashed the judicial institution.
The case began with the disappearance of a shipment of drugs, near the Bondy bridge in 2014. In the role of the delivery man, René, nicknamed Little Father in the traffic, at the wheel of the camper van. No one believed him when he said he got robbed. So, several of them got down to make him spit out the truth, between the walls of an HLM in Aulnay-sous-Bois, with a drill press. Mutilated but alive, he set off, very far, in the provinces, where he decided to call the police.
René, alias Petit-Père: “I am a repentant international drug trafficker”
His story precipitated the reunion of the traffickers in a box of the correctional court of Bobigny, in 2018. Up to 7 years in prison and a fine of 400,000 euros were pronounced. Nothing against Grandfather, exempt from punishment. The court ruled that he had already been “sufficiently sanctioned by the physical suffering and the upheaval in his personal life”.
The second act, was to be played before the Assize Court of Bobigny, three months later for the kidnapping and torture. A missed first meeting, because there are not enough jurors … Of course we were in the middle of the Football World Cup, but, even in Bobigny, it was unheard of. The trial, which finally took place in January 2019, took place in a heavy atmosphere, as soon as the jurors were installed. Barely drawn, a man asked to be dismissed, “uncomfortable” to recognize neighbors in the already full room. It was only a foretaste of this sluggish trial, with witnesses absent and defendants denying everything altogether for the most part. There was no indication of three acquittals among the five detainees. But more disconcerting still, the verdict (two convictions at 7 and 14 years, the remainder of acquittals) had leaked in the room before.
The note denouncing “unfounded acquittals”
The Bobigny public prosecutor’s office opened a judicial investigation for corruption of jurors and violation of deliberation, while the president of the Assize Court, Philippe Jean-Draeher, wrote an unprecedented confidential note to his peers, which we revealed in September. ” Very quickly, he wrote, during the speeches of the jurors, an almost unanimous tendency appeared, to refuse the guilt of certain defendants, in spite of all the pedagogy and the patience which we showed with my colleagues, relates the president. This unfortunately followed completely unfounded acquittals (…) It goes without saying that such a decision, given in defiance of the rules guaranteeing the smooth running of the assize trial, in a climate devoid of all the necessary serenity, – and also absurd as to the fate of some of the acquitted defendants – must be re-examined by an assize court of appeal.»
Two supposed relatives of an accused, nicknamed Razmo and Butch, have been indicted since this summer for “an act of intimidation towards a juror in order to obtain a favorable decision, criminal association and concealment of violation of the secrecy of the instruction . They were remanded in custody and one of them was placed under judicial supervision during confinement, specifies the Bobigny prosecutor’s office. A third person is indicted for violating the secrecy of deliberations.
Me Anne-Charlotte Mallet, lawyer for Petit Père, had already — in vain — called for a closed session at first instance, “precisely to avoid the risk of intimidation and pressure”. “This closed door would reinforce the climate of suspicion”, fears Me Beryl Brown, whose client was sentenced to 7 years in prison.
“Behind closed doors or not, that will not change anything in our defense, the acquittal of my client was founded”, reacts Me Chloé Arnoux, whose client was acquitted. “I am waiting for a fair trial, with serene conditions and a real court decision, this time, which is not a parody”, adds Me Morgane Le Hir, whose client, the one who had most recognized the facts, has sentenced to the heaviest sentence, 14 years old.
What will the court decide on Tuesday? Xavière Siméoni, a president with a solid reputation, has already ordered a closed-door hearing during the trial last fall in Bobigny, following overflows and suspicions of jury intimidation.
PODCAST. The story behind the corruption of jurors in Bobigny
