This is a highly anticipated moment in this “Pogba trial”. Mathias Pogba, Paul's big brother, will be at the helm this Tuesday morning. Mathias Pogba appears for “attempted extortion” and “criminal conspiracy”. Because of the delay, the trial could be prolonged.
After four days of hearing before the Paris criminal court, five of the six defendants were heard by the courts. Mathias Pogba, Paul's big brother, is therefore the last to take the stand, this Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. The president wanted, firstly, to hear the author of the famous videos of August 2022, Friday evening at 9:40 p.m. But the defense, like the civil party, wanted a suspension of the hearing, after more than ten hours of listening to the questioning of two defendants.
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“Madam President, how, in the country of human rights, can we hear someone in these conditions? He is risking his life. We are not in China here”, suggested, Maître Mbeko Tabula, advice from Mathias Pogba to request a postponement of the hearing. It is therefore this Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. that Mathias Pogba is summoned to deliver his version of the situation and answer the court's questions. For a week, Mathias Pogba has been present in courtroom 2.03 of the Paris court. Last Tuesday, he arrived with his mother, a victim in this case, to attend his first day in court.
Every day, Mathias Pogba sits in the front row of the room. He listens to the statements of the various defendants in the case. In this story, Mathias Pogba is accused of having put pressure on Paul and his family so that he pays the amount demanded by the robbers. Paul Pogba's big brother is appearing for “attempted extortion” and “criminal conspiracy”, he did not participate in the kidnapping of his brother on March 19, 2022. He risks 7 years in prison and remains presumed innocent.
Towards an extension of the trial?
This trial has been extremely delayed. The defendants were initially to be questioned during the first three days, i.e. until Thursday. But the president takes the time to dissect everything in the case and the hearing of a defendant lasts around four hours. Lawyers speak of an “under-calibration” of the hearing in the court schedule.
With the delay in the hearing of Mathias Pogba, the lawyers are unanimous in saying that it is impossible to finish this trial before Tuesday evening. Behind the passage of Mathias Pogba, the court will still have to analyze the personality elements of the defendants, before the pleadings and then the requisitions of the prosecution. The president had warned that an additional half-day will normally be necessary to complete this trial. Except that the schedule is busy, and this additional slot could only fall the following week.
