What Elisa Cazalas and her family are demanding today is care, “real care, in a specialized hospital“for his father, Michel Cazalas. Accused of the murder of Arnaud Girard, October 18, 2018, in Sartène, the man has been in pre-trial detention since November 2018. Aged 55, he has suffered for several years from cancer of the liver, now terminally ill and inoperable.
“When I went to see him last week, I found him very, very thin, with a livid complexion. He was in all his senses, and even told me about suicide, hanging. He absolutely wanted to see me, because he thinks he is on his end, he has reached the limit of what he can resist.”
The family of Michel Cazalas and his defense, Me Anna-Maria Sollacaro, Me Paul Sollacaro and Me Dominique Paolini, call for his release, so that he can join a specialized care establishment in Toulouse. If he has been hospitalized since yesterday, their request is still refused to this day, while the date of his trial approaches, on May 17.
Detention of Michel Cazalas: his family “very worried” about his state of health
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Vital prognosis committed in the very short term
The first concerns of the family and the defense of Michel Cazalas as to his conditions of imprisonment date back to the summer of 2020. Me Anna-Maria Sollacaro then recounts having twice requested a medical expertise from the investigation chamber from the Bastia Court of Appeal, supporting medical certificates. “Both times, it was refused to us, and we even had the right to a few taunts from the general prosecutor’s office.“
Months go by and the inmate’s state of health deteriorates. Michel Cazalas, initially imprisoned in Corsica, was transferred to Baumettes, then to the UHSI (interregional secure hospital unit) in Marseille in October 2020. He was finally returned to the Borgo detention center last March, to the approaching his trial. “We then noticed that he was no more than a shadow of himself, and was already no longer able to move.r “, testifies Anna-Maria Sollacaro.
The defense is then contacted by the prison administration of the center. Its director, Julie Latoux, then said to herself “very concerned“, say the lawyers.”The exceptional and very humanistic work of Ms. Julie Latoux should be highlighted.“Noting the situation of Michel Cazalas, the latter asks for the intervention of the medical coordinator of the center, Dr. Jean-François de Bernardi, on April 12.
We wrote a letter to Advocate General François Thévenot to tell him that we are leaving someone to die within four walls, and that action must be taken without delay.
He then produces a certificate attesting that the accused is in critical condition, with a “vital prognosis committed in the very short term“. “We once again seized the investigation chamber, which in return scheduled a hearing on April 28.“, to the chagrin of the lawyers, who”supplient“the establishment of an accelerated procedure.
“We wrote a letter to Advocate General François Thévenot to tell him that we are leaving someone to die within four walls, and that action must be taken without delay. The date of April 28 was maintained“regrets the defense.
New rejection
During the hearing, the lawyers presented themselves with a new medical certificate, which attests “clearly that the state of Mr. Cazalas is incompatible with the prison measure. We provide it, with all the elements, to the investigation chamber.”
The deliberation is rendered on April 30. The investigative chamber of the Court of Appeal, chaired by Pierre Kuentz, refuses the request for the release of Michel Cazalas. “Dr de Bernardi apparently had to be a simple person who went through Borgo and said to himself, hey, I am going to improvise myself doctor, mocks Me Sollacaro. During the hearing, he is described as “someone posing as the coordinator of the Borgo prison unit”. It is understandable that the doctor can jump.“
They blame us half-heartedly for not having requested a medical expertise. However, we did it twice in the summer of 2020. It is masterful schizophrenia!
The magistrates also believe that the medical certificates produced by the doctor during the month of April do not demonstrate an incompatibility with detention, and that the conditions for taking the detainee in the event of release lack clarity.
“The family approached a specialized hospital in Toulon which would be able to accommodate them, and even presented an already booked plane ticket.“, breathed Me Dominique Paolini.”We are told, we do not know where he is going. The goal today is for him to be properly cared for. We need a detention center adapted to his pathology, and today in Corsica, there is none.“
Moreover, “they blame us half-heartedly for not having requested a medical expertise for Mr. Cazalas. However, we did it twice in the summer of 2020. It is masterful schizophrenia!“, gets carried away Me Sollacaro.
Detention of Michel Cazalas: for his lawyer, “this treatment is inhuman”
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“His place is not in prison“
The defense immediately calls for a new hearing, and calls a press conference to alert on the situation of their client. “In what country do we refuse to a man, even if he is awaiting an assize trial, to treat himself with dignity, to have a decent end of life?“asks Me Dominique Paolini.
The deputies Michel Castellani and Jean-Félix Acquaviva are also contacted. “They assured of their support and will challenge the Keeper of the Seals “, says André Paccou, spokesman for the Corsican section of the Human Rights League, who seized the file.
“In the sense that the European Committee for the Fight against Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment tells us, we can consider that this man’s situation is linked to inhuman treatment. He has cancer, is at the end of his life, and cannot be released. His place is not in prison, he must be treated.“
Michel Cazalas remains in custody: for André Paccou of LDH Corse, “his place is not in prison”
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Next hearing on May 5
In the meantime, the new defense request should be examined by the investigating chamber on May 5. “There again, we lose days, for a man in a vital emergency“, sighs Me Anna-Maria Sollacaro.
He wants this trial to take place, he needs to provide explanations. But today he is simply not in a position to do so.
The lawyers finally obtained the temporary hospitalization of Michel Cazalas at the end of the afternoon, April 30. They nevertheless consider it impossible for him to be present during his trial in mid-May, before the Assize Court.
“Mr. Cazalas was not even able to travel to attend his hearing by videoconference on April 28. He is an extremely weakened man. He wants this trial to take place, he needs to provide explanations. But today, he is simply not in a position to do so, and under these conditions, it would be an insult to the defense, but also to the civil party, who could not correctly obtain the answers they want.“, concludes the defense.
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