This is the confirmation that Océane was waiting for. This Wednesday, December 18, the Charente Assize Court sentenced Yéro Ba to 15 years of criminal imprisonment for rape at gunpoint. For the young woman, the verdict of this appeal trial marks the end of a legal journey started in July 2021.
Company
From daily life to major issues, discover the subjects that make up local society, such as justice, education, health and family.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the “Society” newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
Until the end, he denied the facts. The Charente Assize Court decided otherwise. Yéro Ba, a 59-year-old man, tried for the rape of a former student in a Bordeaux parking lot in July 2021, was sentenced, on appeal, to 15 years of imprisonment, after three days of hearing. He was convicted of rape at gunpoint.
Océane’s voice is still trembling. This Wednesday evening, it is a chapter of her life that she will be able to definitively close. “After three and a half years of procedures, it’s finally over. I am moved, yes”, whispers the young woman. I will finally be able to rebuild myself.”
The intimate is political. This popular decision shows society’s position on these crimes.
Oceane,Victim of Yéro Ba
When the verdict was announced, despite her fear which had paralyzed her on Tuesday when she spoke, Océane turned one last time to her attacker. “He looked at me and smiled,” notes the young woman bitterly.
A smile in contrast to the sanction handed down by the jury made up of 9 popular jurors and three magistrates: if the attorney general had requested, as in first instance, 13 years of criminal imprisonment, Yéro Ba this time received 15 years of imprisonment. prison, three more than at first instance. “He is out of harm’s way, both for me and for all of society. I feel relieved,” Océane repeats herself. It’s very good that the jurors made this decision, it sends a message to all of society.”
This trial, on appeal, was opened at the request of the defendant, already sentenced at first instance to 12 years of criminal imprisonment. He assured “not having touched her”. During the trial, the man also returned several times to his version of the facts, first admitting them half-heartedly before retracting. “I have always been consistent. I gave a lot of details, which was highlighted by the president because I wanted to be as precise as possible, explains Océane. I knew the pressure that was on me in this trial.”
In this appeal trial, a new document came to support the victim’s pleading: the written testimony of another young woman, victim in 2018 of similar events. Under the pretext of an exorcism rite, the man allegedly pulled down his pants. The young woman apparently escaped thanks to her phone ringing. If the young woman did not dare to file a complaint then, “media coverage made it possible to identify a new victim”was moved, ahead of the Océane trial. A new testimony in addition to that of a woman, an eyewitness and active during the rape of the young woman. “Without her, I would be in pieces, killed”indicates Océane.
► Also read: “He is dangerous!” Victim of rape in a parking lot, she meets her alleged attacker, released before his trial
For this appeal trial, media coverage has increased for the young woman, as the case of the Mazan rapes comes to an end. A coincidence of the calendar which pushed Océane, like Gisèle Pélicot, to make this trial public. “We saw the attackers coming with masks. Before, the victims hid behind dark glasses”explained Océane this Monday, December 16.
It’s no longer my place to be ashamed. I don’t have to lower my head.
Oceane,Victim of Yéro Ba
Ready to “rebuild yourself”Océane is already thinking of the other victims. “I would like to be able to find all those who have seen their complaints dismissed and tell them that their rapist is convicted. I think of what they must also experience”she says. For all these women and for her, Océane also chose to dress in purple for this last day of hearing. “It’s a symbol of dignity, of hope, I don’t have to bow my head”, she summarizes.
These victims, according to the young woman, continue to recognize and report each other. “During a demonstration for Gisèle Pélicot, I spoke. A woman came to see me afterwards to tell me that she was also one of her victims. Family planning even informed me that another testimony had been entrusted to them.lists Océane.
On July 29, 2021, Océane, then a student, was arrested on rue Sainte-Catherine in Bordeaux by a street musician. Originally from Mauritania, the man has been homeless since 2001. He uses a wheelchair, disabled by poliomyelitis and therefore appears “harmless” for the young woman, used to organizing raids. Without fear, she follows the man into an underground parking lot.
In the darkness of the underground, he allegedly got out of his chair to inflict sexual intercourse on her at knifepoint. “He pretended to be a guru, a healer. He activates women’s traumas to attract them, it’s very clever”describes Océane, to whom he would have offered a rite of disenchantment. A young woman, challenged by the scene, courageously intervenes. Océane filed a complaint the next day, the man was arrested.
► Also read: Océane, student, raped in a parking lot in Bordeaux: the homeless man “who posed as a guru” tried on appeal
His criminal record is extensive: nine pages with 24 mentions and around ten convictions, including one for sexual assault in 2018. He was then sentenced to 18 months in prison.
This Wednesday, a new conviction, loaded with meaning, is added to this file. At the end of the 15 years in prison that he will have to serve, the man was also ordered to leave French territory.
