After six weeks of hearings, the court heard the defense’s final arguments this Wednesday. Julien Ruas’ two lawyers requested an acquittal.
After six weeks, the trial into the building collapses on rue d’Aubagne has just ended. 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. Due to a busy schedule at the start of 2025, the court will issue its decision mid-year, on July 7. A deliberation which will be delivered where the trial took place: at the Muy barracks.
Julien Rua’s lawyers request an acquittal
This morning, Me Matthieu and Me Campana, Julien Ruas’ two lawyers, took the stand for pleadings which lasted several hours. As a reminder, the prosecution requested 3 years in prison for the former deputy in charge of risks. Benjamin Matthieu, of the Paris bar, returned to several facts, based on elements broadcast on the screens. The lawyer, who is the same age as the one he is defending, remained calm and stoic in his monologue.
In another style, Erick Campana came to close the pleadings. A well-known Marseille lawyer, former president of the bar, he presented a much more muscular defense: growling voice, knock on the table and big gestures. Mr. Campana also spoke, at times, in the first person as if he himself were the defendant. The two lawyers argued in favor of an acquittal for Julien Ruas.
A few sentences made people on the public bench react. “This trial should not be a street judgment” asked Me Matthieu in conclusion, referring in particular to messages he saw on the city walls. He also spoke of “media justice” by evoking the requisitions of the prosecution. Erick Campana, for his part, spoke of the devil, explaining that if he was at the origin of this tragedy, he would not have needed to seize Julien Ruas and make him commit failings so that the buildings would collapse. collapse. He also used the word “scapegoat” which is according to his words “the one who is innocent and who is sacrificed”going so far as to refer to the Dreyfus affair. “I don’t want Julien Ruas to be rehabilitated, but relaxed” concluded the lawyer.
