The trial of the collapses of rue d’Aubagne which left eight dead in 2018 in Marseille ended this Wednesday after six weeks of debates which unfolded the scenario of an “inevitable” drama of unworthy housing, with a judgment set under deliberation as of July 7, 2025.
In total, 16 defendants – co-owners, trustee, social landlord, architect-expert and former deputy at the town hall – were prosecuted for different charges, the two most serious of which are involuntary manslaughter and the subjection of vulnerable people to conditions of unworthy accommodation.
Up to three years in prison required
In his indictment, the prosecutor had requested prison sentences against 10 of them, including the only municipal elected official prosecuted, Julien Ruas (three years), and the architect-expert Richard Carta (three years). including one suspended).
Against the co-owners, directly cited by the civil parties, he had requested sentences ranging from two years in prison, one of which was suspended, up to five years, two of which were suspended, against Xavier Cachard, also the trustee’s lawyer and regional elected official. He also called for the conviction of the legal entities accused in the case, the trustee of 65 and the social landlord Marseille Habitat who had not maintained the neighboring building at number 63.
