The trial for the assassination of two members of Corsican organized crime, in December 2017 at Bastia-Poretta airport, opened Monday before the Bouches-du-Rhône Assize Court. A judgment which takes place against the backdrop of a vendetta between heirs of the Sea Breeze gang.
The trial for the assassination of two members of Corsican organized crime, in December 2017 at Bastia-Poretta airport, opened Monday before the Bouches-du-Rhône Assize Court in Aix-en-Provence, against the backdrop of the vendetta between heirs of the Sea Breeze gang. Fourteen accused are present, nine of whom appear detained. At the opening of the proceedings Monday afternoon, the court ordered a severance concerning Marine Andreani, accused of participation in a criminal association, in particular with a view to other criminal projects.
Due to a difficult pregnancy requiring hospitalization at the beginning of April, her lawyers Jean Boudot and Laetitia Maricourt-Balisoni requested this separation due to the expected duration of the debates. “It would be taking a reckless risk for herself and her unborn child,” argued Me Boudot. The attorney general did not object to Marine Andreani being tried later before an assize court without jurors.
An accused still at large
Accused of being the administrator of the criminal team’s encrypted telephone network, Riad Belgacem could be judged in absentia. He has been on the run since the investigation began. In a courthouse under guard, the box of the Assize Court was enlarged to accommodate the nine accused in custody, eight men and one woman. The former prison guard at Borgo prison (Haute-Corse), Cathy Sénéchal, admitted during the investigation to having notably informed the assassins about the release dates of the two victims.
She took her place at the end of the detainees’ box, next to the brothers Christophe and Richard Guazzelli, Ange-Marie Michelosi and Jacques Mariani who, according to the prosecution, took revenge on those they designated as the murderers of their fathers, founders of the Sea Breeze or members of island banditry. The relatives of Jean-Luc Codaccioni and Tony Quilichini, victims of this double assassination, who had become civil parties during the investigation, are neither present nor represented. The civil parties’ bench is occupied only by Me Valérie Vincenti, who defends a passerby hit in the buttock by a stray bullet during the shooting in front of the Bastia-Poretta airport.
This collateral victim will not appear before the Assize Court, his lawyer said. Due to the duration of the trial, scheduled until July 5, the court appointed five additional jurors to be able to replace one of the six jurors in the event of unavailability.
