The video caused a buzz on social networks. Last June, a young man, all smiles, was filmed throwing a dog out of the window of an apartment located on a high floor. We hear the animal dying and laughter in the background. A manhunt was then launched on the Internet to find the author.
The Stéphane Lamart association “For the defense of animal rights” had filed a complaint for acts of cruelty, and the Nice public prosecutor's office had initiated a procedure “for acts of serious abuse or acts of cruelty towards an animal and dissemination of the registration”.
The 14-year-old young man who filmed the video – and not the perpetrator – was arrested on his return to Nice airport on December 23. The scene was in fact filmed in Tunisia.
The defendant is now being prosecuted for “complicity in an act of cruelty or abuse of an animal by recording and disseminating images of acts of cruelty or abuse toward an animal”.
Stéphane Lamart, president of the eponymous association, does not hide his relief to see the file succeed. “I am satisfied with the quality of the work provided by the Nice prosecutor's office, with a real desire to put an end to animal suffering. This is pleasing, this is not the case in certain prosecutor's offices in France where the animal is the last wheel of the carriage.”
Able to reproduce these gestures on a human
The Stéphane Lamart association has become a civil party in this case. “Creating a buzz with acts of cruelty against an animal is unbearable.” The association, represented by Me Patrice Grillon, will therefore be present on March 31 when the young person will be judged.
He was presented to a juvenile judge, who ordered placement with a family member and a provisional judicial educational measure. For “complicity in an act of cruelty by disseminating images”, the young man faces two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros.
“The educational measure is already a good thing. As far as the penalty is concerned, the court never goes to the maximum fine. It's a shame. This is something that we will ask Gérald Darmanin, the new minister of Justice, encourage prosecutors to impose much harsher sentences.”
The president of the animal rights association is sorry that individuals are trying to create a buzz like this. “They are not aware that other people can reproduce their actions.”
According to him, a man capable of committing such atrocities on an animal can reproduce these actions on a human.
As for the author of the gesture, he “has not been identified”, indicates Damien Martinelli, public prosecutor of Nice. “He probably usually resides in Tunisia.”
