Christophe Guazzelli, presented as the “mastermind” of the assassination of two members of the Corsican banditry in December 2017 at Bastia-Poretta airport, was sentenced on Friday to 30 years of criminal imprisonment, including 20 years of security, by the Bouches-du-Rhône Assize Court.
Thirteen of the 15 defendants were found guilty, two were acquitted. Sentences ranging from three years of imprisonment – including one year suspended – to 30 years of criminal imprisonment with 20 years of security were handed down in this trial where, in an extremely rare occurrence, the main accused refused to appear and challenged their lawyers, thus having no defense.
Cathy Châtelain, divorced Sénéchal, a guard at the Corsican prison of Borgo who admitted her participation in these assassinations, was sentenced to 23 years of criminal imprisonment. She was present in the box to listen to the verdict after weeks of refusing to appear.
Attorneys General Christophe Raffin and Yvon Calvet had called on the jury on Monday to find the 15 defendants on trial since the beginning of May guilty, and had requested sentences ranging from five years in prison – four of which were suspended – to life imprisonment.
For the prosecution, “everything goes back” to Christophe Guazzelli, presented as the “mastermind”, “the soul of this criminal project” who will lead his brother Richard. He is “the executor, the organizer, the one who provides instructions to others, even orders”, they ruled, asking for life imprisonment against him.
According to the prosecution, the objective of the Guazzelli brothers, Ange-Marie Michelosi and Jacques Mariani was to avenge the deaths of their fathers, founders of the “Brise de Mer” or members of the banditry of Corsica-du-Sud, whose deaths are all attributable to the opposing clan today led by Jean-Luc Germani. They would also have wanted to “revive” the “Sea Breeze”, this historic criminal gang.
On December 5, 2017, at around 11:20 a.m., Jean-Luc Codaccioni and Antoine Quilichini were the targets of gunfire in the parking lot of Bastia airport. Antoine Quilichini was killed instantly. Jean-Luc Codaccioni, an inmate of Borgo prison, returning from leave in Paris, died seven days later.
© Agence France-Presse
