the essential
Mohamed and Mohamad were on trial for armed violence committed in Montauban on November 3. They were sentenced to eighteen months in prison, twelve of which were suspended.
If the facts judged by the Montauban court were not so serious, the turn of the hearing and the procedure in the broad sense would make one smile. Problem: Mohamed and Mohamad, if these are their real first names, were tried on Tuesday December 17 for violence in a meeting, while drunk and with a weapon. The first for having struck with a saber, the second with his feet, a man in Square Piquard in the city of Ingres, on the evening of November 3.
“I was knocked out, drunk, I don’t know what I did”
The two men in an irregular situation appeared for the third time before judges. The fault lies in a “lacunar” procedure, as admitted by Lisa Kratz, the deputy prosecutor of Montauban. Additional information, requested in particular by Mr. Rodriguez in defense during the first two hearings, which was not well handled by the police station or transmitted by the prosecution. But also because they seem to have taken great pleasure in confusing anyone who would have liked to be interested in their case.
Even during the hearing, Mohamed, who is probably called Youssef, and Mohamad, who could have given his real identity, try to lose the magistrates who will judge them. Which had the gift of annoying the president of the court, Alain Fouquet. Which will finally have succeeded in loosening Youssef’s tongue… It will not have been an easy task. Finally, with regard to the defense’s new referral request for further information and the reclassification of the facts as reciprocal violence. “The victim had the role of initiator,” assures the lawyer. A request refused after more than half an hour of deliberation. After another thirty minutes of fruitless palaver, President Fouquet therefore devoted himself to the materiality of the facts after having tried, in vain, to extract the context. “Did you give the victim seven blows with a stick (with a saber in reality, editor’s note) and a kick?” asks the president. “I was knocked out, drunk, I don’t know what I did,” retorts Mohamed, alias Youssef.
Same question to Mohamad and same answer. If they are not recognized, the facts are not contested, since they are attested by the video protection cameras of the municipality of Montauban, on which Me Gloriès relies as a civil party. “It’s a miracle not to find yourself in another room (the assizes, Editor’s note) for such an outburst of violence,” he insists, requesting 3,000 euros in damages for his client’s moral injury. and 600 euros in lawyer fees.
“The procedure should not have been done like that”
Recognizing that “the procedure should not have been done like that”, the deputy prosecutor Lisa Kratz nevertheless decides: “This extremely serious case could have ended up in court. We do not really know who the defendants are but it there are worrying elements regarding their dangerousness.” His requisitions are extremely heavy: four years, three of which are suspended, continued detention and ban from national territory for ten years. “It is an exceptional sentence which is based on the seriousness of the facts.”
In defense, Mr. Rodriguez is choked by this quantum. “When so much is required, the context must be understood and understood. This case is an accumulation of dysfunctions. My clients are just as much victims, even if they do not commit gratuitous aggression.”
The court sentences the duo to the same sentence: eighteen months in prison, twelve of which are suspended, continued detention for six months, a ban on Tarn-et-Garonne and the carrying of a weapon for five years, 600 euros of damage to the victim and as many lawyer costs.
“The court considers that elements lend credence to your version but do not detract from the offense,” concludes the president.
