“At certain times, I wondered if it was the trial of Nabil Raouafi or the trial of his family…”
Me Hind Maghnaoui sounds the counter-attack, this Friday afternoon, before the Alpes-Maritimes Assize Court. An hour earlier, the attorney general requested life imprisonment, accompanied by a two-thirds security sentence. Or the maximum sentence. To avoid such an outcome, the defense works to sow doubt in the minds of the jurors. She pleads for acquittal.
Did Nabil Raouafi, 36, try to kill his wife Samira with fire on August 13, 2021 in Nice? The person concerned has been denying this for three years. “I am innocent. I have confidence in justice”he concluded at 6 p.m., before following the police towards the courthouse jails. The court retires to deliberate. His verdict is expected this evening.
“We are talking about a man who has always proclaimed his innocence”recalls Me Maghnaoui. His family would have exercised influence “on the verge of slavery” on Samira? “There are cultural differences. A clash of generations, tooobjects the lawyer. His mother [celle de Nabil Raouafi] saw himself again in her forty years earlier. She wanted to protect her.”
“Ease survey”
But once again, it is his son who is judged. However, the investigators too quickly named him guilty, to the liking of Me Florian Abassit. “It is not an incriminating investigation that has been carried out. It is an easy investigation. However, when we are convinced of something, we move away from the truth…”
The defender offers a completely different reading of the case. He invites the jurors to “don’t get your arm pulled” on the terrain of emotion, to take an interest in the charges weighing on his client. Or rather, to the inaccuracies of the investigation. They are numerous in his eyes. Because the testimonies are subject to caution. Above all, telephone tracing cannot guarantee with certainty that Nabil Raouafi was in the family apartment when Samira's back caught fire.
Me Abassit maintains that her husband had gone out about ten minutes earlier. He remains amazed that DNA samples were not taken from the bottle of ethanol used for the disastrous task. He recalls that a professional magistrate was himself overtaken by doubt, to the point of granting Nabil Raouafi release.
Will these arguments be able to shake the inner convictions of the jurors, in the face of Marina Horlaville's well-argued requisitions? Was Samira able to inflict these terrible injuries on herself, as the opposing party believes? Response in the evening.
