the accused will be questioned, follow the highlights of the 4th day of the trial

The Doubs Assize Court will judge three men from December 16 to 20, 2024, one of whom is still on the run. They are accused of having murdered “by mistake” Houcine Hakkar on March 8, 2020, in Besançon, shot dead while driving his car. Our journalist Antoine Comte is present at the hearing this Thursday, December 19.

To follow the chronological order of the hearing, we advise you to scroll down to the bottom of the page.

► Relive the first day of the trial in this article.

► Highlights of the second day of the trial in this article.

► Watch the third day of the trial live from the Doubs Assize Court

9 h 45 : “In your investigation, the big absentee is Mohamed Mordjane” concludes Delphine Thibierge, president of the Assize Court. As during the entire trial, the shadow of the leader of the Picardie clan is present during the debates.

Me Moroz, lawyer for Mohamed Mordjane, returns to a statement by Bernard Bonnot, who cited an interviewee who described Mordjane to him as “limit“. “I don’t know any more, it was very complicated to get information“.

9 h 40 : “The mother will evade questions about her son’s addictions“continues the personality expert.”But in 2016, he was diagnosed with severe diabetes“.

I don’t know where he is today. I fear for his health, because he has to inject himself twice a day with insulin. For that alone, I wish he would surrender.

Nadia Mordjane,

mother of Mohamed Mordjane, quoted by Bernard Bonnot, personality investigator

9 h 30 : “I have very little information regarding Mohamed’s adolescence.“regrets Bernard Bonnot.”He spent these years in Planoise, going out a lot with his friends to play football. But his mother doesn’t talk much about this period“. The expert reveals that Mohamed Mordjane was excluded from his college and, according to his mother, “never worked“.

9 h 22 : The hearing resumed. The court welcomes Bernard Bonnot. This man carried out the personality investigation on the 3rd accused during this trial: Mohamed Mordjane. A difficult job, since the latter, known as the leader of the Picardie clan, is currently on the run. The investigator was able to speak with Mr. Mordjane’s mother, Nadia Mordjane, and people who knew the accused in educational and professional settings.

Mohamed Mordjane’s mother explains that she had a difficult married life. Her husband yelled at her, constantly belittled her. She divorced when Mohamed was 6 years old.

Bernard Bonnot,

personality investigator of Mohamed Mordjane

9 h 15 : The hearing is suspended for ten minutes.

9 h 12 : Me André Buffard, lawyer for Elias Basbas, asks a question about the lack of the father in the psycho-emotional development of his client. “It’s a bit like his father didn’t want him“replies the expert.”He doesn’t know his half-siblings. The child experienced this as a rejection, as if it was his fault. The child does not develop a good self-image“.

9 h 07 : “I can’t find any psychiatric history“explains the expert.”No symptoms of mental illness or major personality disorder. We can make a diagnosis of dyssocial personality, but there is no reason to request a care order“.

In his biography, we note his father’s absence and his mother’s illness from the age of 15. This may explain his dyssocial personality with ease of acting out.

Jean Canterino,

personality expert, who studied Elias Basbas

9 h 02 : The hearing resumed. The court will take the testimony of Jean Canterino, psychiatric expert. He carried out the psychiatric examination of one of the accused, Mr. Elias Basbas, whom he met in prison on August 29, 2022.

8 h 56 : Hello everyone. We are live for the 4th day of the trial for the assassination of Houcine Hakkar, at the Doubs Assize Court, in Besançon. The lawyers and civil parties are already in the courtroom.

The defendants present at the trial are arriving now. Melk Ghezali wears a black sweater while Elias Basbas is dressed in a gray sweater topped with a black down jacket. The hearing will resume in a few moments.

The 4th day of the trial of the alleged assassins of Houcine Hakkar is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

An important day in more than one way. First of all, the psychiatric expertise of Mr. Basbas, one of the accused present at the trial, will be revealed. Then a personality investigator will come to share his work on Mohamed Mordjane, another accused, but who is on the run. The court will then hear three important witnesses. Indeed, these are the mothers of the accused Melk Ghezali and Mohamed Mordjane, as well as the sister of Elias Basbas.

MM. Ghezali and Basbas will then be questioned. Their hearings, initially scheduled for December 18, were postponed until today. Will Melk Ghezali confirm his involvement in the assassination of Houcine Hakkar, as he has already done? Will he recognize Elias Basbas as his accomplice? Will the latter admit his involvement, he who, until now, has denied being the author of the shots? These are the issues. Finally, at the end of the day, the lawyers for the civil parties will make their argument.

What happened during the first three days of the trial

You can find the complete progress of each day of the trial, minute by minute, below:

• Monday December 16: summary of the facts; hearing of the principal investigator; broadcast of the chilling call for help from Houcine Hakkar and Rabah Khaldi, chased by the killers; poignant testimonies from the sisters of Houcine Hakkar.
• Tuesday, December 17: expert testimony; statements by several witnesses to the assassination in a heavy atmosphere; hearing of Rabah Khaldi, passenger of Houcine Hakkar at the time of his death and himself wounded by gunfire; moving testimony from Houcine’s mother, Zora Hakkar.
• Wednesday, December 18: hearings of multiple figures of Bisontin narcobanditism, from the Picardie clan (the clan of the accused) and the rival clan, the “de la Tour” clan. Two former members of the Picardie clan accuse Melk Ghezali and Elias Basbas and deny the involvement of Mohamed Mordjane in the death of Houcine Hakkar.

Who are the victims of this trial

• Houcine Hakkar, 23 years old died on March 8, 2020, shot several times while driving a car in Besançon. He had nothing to do with drug trafficking. He was killed by mistake following a war between two drug trafficking clans in Besançon.
• You must be wrong escaped the shooting on March 8, 2020, avenue Siffert. He was the passenger in the car, driven by Houcine Hakkar.

Who are the accused tried by the Assize Court?

• Mohamed Mordjane : head of the network of drug traffickers, known as the “Picardie” clan, he is still on the run.
• Milk Ghezali : On the evening of the tragedy, he was driving the car that chased Houcine Hakkar’s car. Melk Ghezali was arrested in Spain in May 2021, then extradited to France.
• Elias Basbas : he is the alleged shooter who coldly fired several bullets at Houcine Hakkar and also attempted to assassinate his passenger
  They are indicted for murder, attempted murder and complicity in attempted murder.

“Damn sir, we are going to die”: we summarize this tragic affair for you

In the spring of 2020, the drug traffickers’ war raged in Besançon. Two clans are competing for deal points in the Planoise district, the “de la tour” clan and the “Picardie” clan. As the weeks go by, clashes between rivals multiply. 10 injured. Until that evening, that of carefully planned revenge. The traffickers carry out the operation by trading on an encrypted network.

A week before confinement, on March 8, 2020 around 9 p.m., thinking they had spotted their target, two men chase a blue Mégane car on Avenue Siffert. The passenger fired multiple shots. The occupants of the Megane had time to alert the police. The recordings are chilling: “We’re being shot at!”, “We’re in a car, sir, hurry up, they’re behind us, it’s a red Mégane 5”, “Fuck, sir, we’re going to die, damn it, we’re we’re going to die, we’re going to die, sir.”

In the evening on the encrypted network, the traffickers will realize that they have killed the wrong person. An innocent man.

Already heavily condemned by the courts, the three men tried during this trial before the Doubs assizes face a sentence of life imprisonment.