HEARING REPORT – The Nice prosecutor’s office requested, on Tuesday evening, two and a half years in prison against the former captain of AS Monaco, including one year “adjustable” for acts of sexual assault during a night where he had consumed , alone, lots of alcohol.
Le Figaro Nice
Wissam Ben Yedder arrived at the court in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) late Tuesday afternoon, cap pulled down, trying to hide his face to avoid photographers, and with a bag of belongings in his hand. Prison could well await the former captain of AS Monaco. At the beginning of the evening, he finally emerged free, the decision having been reserved until November 12. The prosecution requested two and a half years in prison, including one year closed “convertible” at the end of a two-hour hearing. The former international striker appeared for “obviously intoxicated sexual assault”, “refusal to comply” et “driving under the influence of alcohol”translation of a night where he got further stuck in legal troubles.
At the helm, Wissam Ben Yedder confronted the facts and the dark contours of that night of September 6 to 7, without providing any clarification. He only admitted to excessive consumption of whiskey and cola, aboard his Peugeot 208, alone in a parking lot near his home located in Cap d’Ail. Why such behavior, the president asked himself several times? “I thought it could do me good, it made me forget, it helped me stop thinking”explained the ex-Monegasque, describing himself as “someone lonely [qui s’est] refuge behind alcohol ».
With 0.76 milligrams of alcohol per liter of exhaled air that evening, “WBY” repeated not remembering “It was nothing” after having a few drinks. “It’s because of alcohol that I have problems”he insisted, recalling that since then, “I treat myself, I try to heal myself”. Until his trial, the man who avoided pre-trial detention followed treatment at Nice hospital, his lawyers recalled
“Fear” because “bipolar”
After meeting a group of five young individuals in this parking lot near a beach, Wissam Ben Yedder dragged two of them, including the 23-year-old complainant, into his vehicle. A few turns of the wheel later, “to take a ride”and after dropping off Mehdi, with whom Wissam Ben Yedder had apparently hit it off, he continued on his way, into his garage, with Diana S. as a passenger. Present at the hearing, and letting tears flow as she spoke and described her intact shock, she only confirmed “clearly” his first statements. Passing to the back of the car, Wissam Ben Yedder would have first “caressed the thigh inside” before masturbating while observing her chest and trying to hug her.
In her hearing, the young woman recounted these attempts to hold her back, while explaining that she had assured her that she was not “not interested”. She finally managed to escape and “hide behind a trash can”supporting video surveillance images. “I was scared because he was bipolar”she added. Why, then, get into his vehicle, asked the player’s defense, necessarily evoking his notoriety? “I was afraid he would come to blows” in case of refusal to follow him, she explained, emphasizing the changing moods of Wissam Ben Yedder, whom she did not know. “When I drink, I’m no longer myself,” defended the former striker, now far from the field. I really don’t remember what happened.”he continued, swearing that “without alcohol, it’s impossible, it would never occur to me”.
“Right in the middle of sexual assault”
During the rest of the night, he again explained that he was not “not himself”. A return to the wheel despite an empty bottle of whiskey still on board, dangerous driving and a refusal to comply when the gendarmes tried to arrest him around 3 a.m. “It’s the darkest period of his life”underlined his lawyers, Mes Hasna Louzé and Marie Roumiantseva, who discussed this affair as “an electroshock” for Wissam Ben Yedder, who would still be courted by “several European clubs”they clarified.
“We are in the middle of sexual assault, where he used all means, including violence”explained prosecutor Laura Goudé, not wanting to make this trial “that of alcohol”. She also requested an obligation of care and a six-month suspension of her driving license. Wissam Ben Yedder will be arrested in less than a month, before other meetings with the courts. On December 27, the former French international (19 caps) will appear for psychological violence against his wife, with whom he is in the process of a complicated divorce. A rape case concerning him and his brother, in the summer of 2023, is also still under investigation.
