A search in the Grésilles district of Dijon, June 18, 2020. – JC Tardivon / SIPA
Two people were sentenced on Friday for drug trafficking and twelve others were on trial following an investigation into the violence that occurred from June 12 to 15 in Dijon, said the public prosecutor Eric Mathais.
A 20-year-old Dijonnais was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment at home, with a bracelet, for trafficking in narcotics, and another, 51, six months suspended for the same facts, said the prosecutor at a press conference.
Several police operations
Six others, aged between 18 and 19, were still on trial this Friday late afternoon for the same counts, while a last, a 17-year-old minor, was heard by a juvenile judge. The prosecution requests its placement in a closed educational center.
In the other part of the investigation, which concerns the possession of weapons, five other people, aged 21 to 41, were also on trial for “participation with arms in a crowd by a person deliberately concealing his face ” This offense is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.
All these people had been arrested during weapons search operations, four in less than a week (Friday June 19, as well as Monday, Wednesday and Thursday last), which had been triggered following the disturbances which occurred in particular in the sensitive district of Grésilles.
In the evening of Monday, June 15, hooded men appeared on videos with what appeared to be assault rifles or automatic pistols, fake or real. The prosecutor recently pointed out that some of these images had not been filmed in Dijon.
Nine people were arrested during the Monday operation and eight during the Wednesday morning operation, followed by another arrest later in the day.
Reprisals from the Chechen community
Fourteen people had been taken into custody until Friday. Three were released and released, while the last was summoned on July 2 for “participation with a gun in a crowd by a person deliberately concealing his face”.
The violence in Grésilles and Chenôve, in the outskirts, had taken place after a series of reprisals launched by members of the Chechen community, who wanted to take revenge on the assault of a teenager whom they blame on dealers in the Grésilles.
In the investigation into these facts, six Chechens were arrested on Thursday June 18. Two were exonerated, while the other four were indicted, including three placed in pre-trial detention. The fourth suspect remained free under judicial supervision.
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