On November 27, 2019, Mohamed Yassin, 25, was killed for very obscure reasons, in Noisy-le-Sec (Seine-Saint-Denis). One of his attackers, who stabbed him five times, including two fatalities, claimed that the victim had provoked him by making racist remarks.
The alleged perpetrators are tried before the Assize Court of Seine-Saint-Denis from this Tuesday and until Friday. Frédéric R., 31, is being prosecuted for repeat murder because he was sentenced in 2010 to four years in prison for aggravated violence. Youri V., 32, is dismissed for murder.
The victim was walking back from seeing a Real Madrid-PSG Champions League match in a bar. The murder scene was captured on CCTV. Two men can be seen passing in front of La Superette du Tram, rue de Paris, at 11:51 p.m. One wears white sneakers, the other black shoes. About ten meters further, they meet Mohamed Yassin. An altercation breaks out. The one with the black shoes presses the young man against a construction palisade. Then waves his arms.
Gestures that can make you think of the movements of a knife. Mohamed staggers away. He is caught by the man in the white shoes, who unfolds a knife. Then the latter and his sidekick continued on their way towards the Bondy bridge, leaving the victim to die, mortally wounded in the heart and spleen, in front of the grocery store.
CCTV footage and a witness
The suspects are found in a student residence in Noisy-le-Sec. Three Laguiole brand knives showing traces of blood were seized. Their clothes, too, are stained with brownish marks.
The video is not the only one to speak. A witness was around that evening. He had noticed a North African-looking man trapped against a palisade, struggling with two individuals. As he passed, he brushed against one of the two men, who glared at him.
The witness had passed on his way but he had heard this sentence: “Stop whitewashing! », pronounced by one of the two accomplices in the direction of their victim. Then he saw one of the attackers “grab him by the collar” and stab him “several times” while his friend watched, motionless.
When questioned, the two suspects, who had also just attended the football match with friends, admitted that the evening had been washed down with rum and that they had smoked several joints. It was in this state that they found themselves in the street.
He “wanted to scare him, but not kill him”
Arrived at their height, Mohamed Yassin would have brushed against them on the shoulder and would have uttered racist insults, according to their statements. During the trial, part of the debates will aim to clarify the trigger for the deadly violence. Another, on homicidal intent.
During the interrogations, Youri V. freed himself of all responsibility. He however admitted to having also taken out a blade but only to scare, he assured. And while Frédéric R. claimed that Mohamed called them “dirty blacks” and threatened to “fuck (their) mother, dirty macaques”, his friend cautiously declared that he had not seen or heard of such a thing.
Stung, Frédéric said that Mohamed had given him a punch. He will eventually admit that he carried “three stab wounds” and would have retaliated because he felt in danger. He “wanted to scare him, but not kill him,” he maintained.
“When someone looks at you badly, you have to smile back”, said the victim
When questioned, the friends of the deceased were surprised to learn that Mohamed had made racist remarks. He was rather of a peaceful temperament, protested his relatives. “He was the pillar of the family and a teaser. In the event of a dispute, he acted as mediator. »
“When someone looks at you badly, you have to smile back”, used to say this VTC driver portrayed as a “humble and discreet” man.
