This is the subject that stood out all day from Thursday, December 19, 2024 before the Vienna Assize Court to the last day of the trial for the murderous kidnapping of Khaled Bouderbala: are there enough of the accused to respond? of this crime for which they face life imprisonment?
“For the sake of the family, we must bear with the gray areas in this matter”pointed out the lawyer for the civil parties at the start of the morning. A “gruesome crime” by which “like cowards, four against one, you massacred Khaled”, blurted Me Sabilellah, for the victim’s brother, mother and nephews.
“A new type of legal battle is looming”
Four to one, as Deho-Guy Sery recounted the day before, during confessions which surprised the court at the end of the day. Because, from the start, he supported an incredible story of a gang of Spaniards who came to take revenge and also attacked him. Finally, yesterday, he and Boinali M’ze admitted the facts. Yes, they did kidnap Khaled Bouderbala this Sunday, September 6, 2020. But they were not alone. Sery clearly denounced the presence of two other accomplices, men who came to testify at the bar that same morning and on Tuesday.
“Khaled’s partner asked me the question this morning: how do we now ensure that the man who was accused yesterday and slept last night only 15 km from her home is held accountable? »continued Me Takhedmitt. “We will contact all appropriate judicial bodies for what the Assize Court cannot do here, he promised. But it’s sad that we can’t say to ourselves that after this trial it’s over […]. We will do what we can to find ways for justice to be done. »
“Since the beginning of the case, it has been established that the three did not act alone, agreed the Advocate General during his indictment. […] I’m not saying there weren’t suspicions. » But the objective elements were not sufficient to continue. “I would not have been able to support you with a demonstration” on the two other accused, one of whom had nevertheless been indicted during the investigation. Concerning new proceedings against them, Jean-Dominique Trippier added that the words of the two accused had no more value than those of the others. “I can’t draw any conclusions from this,” concluded the representative of the public prosecutor.
“An aberrant not guilty decision”
The defense lawyers hit the nail on the head, citing the “errors and inadequacies of an investigation” for Me Minkowski, advice to Boinali M’ze. “Let’s talk about those who are absent, those who should be with them to share the responsibility”the defendants who, according to him, benefited, “an aberrant and definitive decision of not guilty” and against which “we can’t do anything more.”
Me Valls, for Deho-Guy Sery, denounced “unequal treatment before the criminal justice system, because there are two accused in the box instead of four”. “This is unacceptable, the other two are in the wild. »
“What is looming today is a new type of legal battle” a promis Me Takhedmitt, for the partner and children of Khaled Bouderbala.
In the meantime, tomorrow Friday December 20, the verdict will fall for the three accused tried this week.
An acquittal and thirty and twenty years of imprisonment required
“You sowed death and chaos in the Bouderbala family”assured the lawyer for the civil parties. A family who did not live in the neighborhoods but in Mignaloux-Beauvoir, a sort of “Wisteria lane local, a quiet neighborhood”completes Me Takhemitt, then addressing Deho-Guy Sery who swore yesterday that he had no blood on his hands: “Your hands are soaked in the blood of Khaled Bouderbala. »
A guilt also recorded for the attorney general, who requested thirty years in prison for the man who designated himself as the organizer of the kidnapping. Elements “objective and solid” (telephone, use of the victim’s bank card and cameras) which existed for the two main accused before the start of the trial, he assures.
He requested twenty years of imprisonment against Boinali M’ze. “There is no leader, no follower, only participants”for the public prosecutor. Me Minkowski, his counsel, denounced unjust requisitions and a sentence that is usually requested for “serial murderers, terrorists”. “M’ze kidnapped Khaled Bouderbala, he did not take his life”he explained, assuring that the victim was still alive when he left. For Ousmann Guirassy, cleared yesterday by the two others, Jean-Dominique Trippier requested acquittal. “It was one of the collateral damages of this investigation, which was certainly complex, but which gave rise to inexcusable errors,” pleaded his counsel, Me Coutand.
Deho-Guy Sery, finally, against all expectations broke down during his lawyer’s pleading, which recalled his difficult journey. Me Valls pointed out the action of the accused, who called the firefighters and took Khaled to the hospital when he discovered the extent of the injuries: “The gesture of a desperate man who tries to save another man, after having been the author of his martyrdom. »
