The trial of Paul Pogba's attackers, prosecuted for kidnapping and extortion of the footballer, continues. On the fourth day of the hearing, Friday November 29, the defense led a counter-offensive, trying to give another image than that stuck to the defendants since the start of the trial on Tuesday, that is to say friends only interested by the money of the former international of the French football team.
The afternoon was marked by tears so unexpected that they took the entire courtroom by surprise. A few minutes before though. Boubacar, 35, black velvet jacket, gets annoyed by the president's questions, responds bordering on aggressiveness. But when his lawyer questions him in turn, the tone changes, his voice drops, he recounts what earned him his nickname “The Butler”.
In 2012, when Paul Pogba signed his first big contract at Juventus Turin, Boubacar decided to follow him. “He was not yet earning millions of euros, but I left my parents and my pregnant partner to go with him to Italy,” says Boubacar. “You could say in a way that you sacrificed yourself for Paul Pogba”summarizes his lawyer. That's when the first tears come. With the silence in the room, sobs echo. His lawyer takes him by the shoulder: “Stop! You're going to make me cry too.” Paul Pogba's advice smiles, between irony and annoyance.
Boubacar continues: “In 2016, back in France, I became Paul Pogba's mother's handyman. I drove her everywhere for 2 600 euros per month.” “Did you have a contract ?”asks his lawyer. “No, Paul never did it to me. But I trusted him. His mother was like my own mother.” The sobs return, once again, his lawyer pauses. A few minutes later, when Boubacar refused to say he was disappointed by certain attitudes of the footballer, his lawyer drove the point home: “See how good he is, Madam President. He does not mean that Pogba could be contemptuous.” “Yes, in this case, we are surrounded by kindness”she replies, causing laughter in the room.
“From a tax point of view, this file is a disaster,” even says one of the defense lawyers who is still questioning The Butler. “So you had an oral contract ?” “Yes.” “Okay, it exists, but you were declared ?” “Non.” “So when, in 2021, Paul Pogba decides that you are going to stop working for his mother, you do not receive unemployment ?” “Non.” “And for five years, you did not contribute to retirement ?” “No.” “Well it's not legalsummarizes the lawyer, turning to the public prosecutor. And yet, the prosecution did not carry out any investigation. Paul Pogba does covert work and that poses no problem to anyone. There are therefore two justice systems in France.”
A new question, still to the butler, comes from yet another lawyer: “Do you know how Paul Pogba's accounts work ?” “No.” “So, do you know what his account at Deutsche Bank was for? ?” “Non”. “Pardonsummarizes one of the lawyers. We ask you questions that we should ask Paul Pogba. But since he's not here, we can't.”
