Two childhood friends were tried in Alès, this Thursday, June 27, after a series of shootings, four months ago, towards an accommodation center for unaccompanied minors and a building in Anduze , and the bar of a small village. Hearing their explanations, the public prosecutor declared: “My arms are falling!”
The public prosecutor of Alès, Abdelkrim Grini, speaks of“a worrying, even disconcerting seriousness. Facts of distressing stupidity.” They even had “caused a real stir” et “creates worry”. Facing him, in the defendants’ box of the criminal court, are, this Thursday, June 27, Yanis and Arthur, two childhood friends aged 19, arrested the day before and released from police custody in the morning. On the night of February 18 to 19, with two rifles, they fired several times: in the direction of a bar, in Monoblet, also of a building in Anduze, where migrants and minors are housed. accompanied more precisely. At the opening of the trial, President Julia Salery immediately underlines the “very nice investigation” gendarmes from the Vigan and Alès research brigades who managed, with very little information, to identify the suspects, who admitted the facts as soon as they were arrested.
Weapons found in Saint-Félix-de-Pallières
To listen to these two, what they are accused of took place at the end of a drunken evening at Yanis’s, with weapons which would have been found on the floor of the Saint-Félix-de-Pallières mine. Really epic facts! Yanis wanted to show his friend how a weapon works and fired, at eye level, towards the entrance hall, breaking the window. Three shots are then fired by the two young people, who are in a car, heading towards a bar in Monoblet. A town where the previous summer, during a party, Yanis was allegedly the victim of violence! And then, back in Anduze, it is Arthur, this time, who fires three times at a home occupied by migrants. Because one of them, according to the defendant, would have sexually assaulted his girlfriend and would not have been punished severely enough by the courts. It was, in fact, a sexist insult, the president clarified, and the migrant whose accommodation was targeted had nothing to do with this affair.
A defendant sobs, the court gets annoyed
First interviewed, Yanis sobs: “We didn’t want to hurt; we didn’t want to touch anyone.” “I can not believe !”, gets annoyed Julia Salery. But this young person persists“we just wanted to degrade”. A position that Arthur also defends: “It was a complete meltdown. We left on a whim […] I didn’t realize it at the time.” Pointed out for the shooting at the migrant accommodation center, the latter assures that “This is, in no way, a racist act”that he just wanted “intimidate”. The president does not let anything go, denounces “a kind of justification”. “You identify two enemies, Monoblet and the migrants!”she notes. “In your reasoning, it doesn’t matter. We go out there and we do harm.”
Electronic bracelet or deposit mandate?
“My arms are falling!”, balances Abdelkrim Grini, after hearing the explanations of the defendants. He requires two years in prison for them, one of which will be suspended on probation. Yanis then bursts into tears. Given the personality of these two young people, unknown and almost unknown to the justice system, he requests an electronic bracelet for the firm part, before asserting: “Otherwise, a committal warrant…”
“At 19, you’re still a big baby”
“There are pairs of slaps that get lost”attacks Me Florence Mendez, Yanis’ lawyer. “At 19, you’re still a kid. At 19, you’re still a big baby and you still do anything.” Me Anaïs Farget, who defends Arthur, says to herself “moved” faced with the severity of the indictment. The lawyer regrets that what her client experienced after the attack on her friend, “a destroyed young woman, whom he was afraid of losing, that she would commit suicide”, was not taken into account. She explains that he considered that a fine imposed on the author was not sufficient: “The depth of anger and emotion is important to talk about to understand…”
A release is pleaded for the two defendants
The two counsels jointly plead for the acquittal, because, they believe, in this case of violence with weapons, there are no intentional elements. “We are here to do law, not to do morality”insisted Me Farget.
What do the magistrates ultimately decide?
The partial acquittal was obtained for the shooting against the building located in front of Yanis’ home, not for the rest. In the end, the two friends received the sentence that the prosecution hoped for. With an electronic bracelet. The defendants understand that they are not going to detention. They let out a sigh of relief as they held onto the box bench.
