children testify at Nexon double murder trial

The trial for double murder and triple attempted murder of Nexon continues at the Limoges Assizes. This fourth day, the children of Cécile Péroux must deliver a much-awaited testimony. They tell their story of the night of June 15 to 16, 2021, during which their mother and her neighbor Pierrick Berthier, who came to her aid, were killed.

Before the Limoges Assizes, the trial for double murder is also that of a triple attempted murder. The victims of this act? The three children of Cécilia Péroux, killed by three stab wounds.

The evening of the tragedy, they were present and found themselves trapped upstairs in their house when it was set on fire.

Maëlle, the eldest, was 13 years old at the time of the events. She spoke at the end of the afternoon.

In court, she appears strong and doesn’t let anything show. “I woke up, I went to the kitchen”she remembers. “I saw the fire, I saw Abdel, a knife in his hand, blood on his work clothes.” She says she saw her mother as well as Pierrick, sitting and unconscious. She adds that once she went back to her room, she heard screams: “I don’t move anymore, I wait my turn”she whispers.

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This tragic night of June 15 to 16, 2021, she saved her brother and sister. She woke them up, tried to throw water on the fire that was starting on the stairs preventing them from getting out, and screamed for help.

The young girl who is now 16 years old today lives in fear. She is followed by a psychiatrist and her daily stress forces her to take medication. Last June, Maëlle attempted suicide.

“Today I feel empty without my mother”, she declares. “I I want a lot from these two people who took his life. We don’t have so many emotions, we’re no longer conscious, we just deal with it, that’s all.”

However, the appearance in court this Thursday, October 10 was unavoidable. “For me, it was important to come and testify for my mother, to represent her, and to say that we are still here”she adds. “We have to show that we don’t give up, even if there are moments of tears, we will always be there to defend her.”

We don’t have that many emotions, we’re no longer conscious, we just deal with it, that’s all.

Maëlle

Eldest daughter of Cécilia Péroux

Maëlle’s testimony was eagerly awaited, but also feared by the main accused, Abdelkader Belarbia, to the point that he did not appear at the hearing this Thursday morning. He wrote a letter in which he wrote: “I do not take responsibility for what I did, I regret having taken Mr. Berthier’s life.” He adds that he did not know how to protect himself and apologizes to the families.

>> ALSO READ: Double murder and triple attempted murder of Nexon: on the third day, finally, the confessions

Faced with this absence, anger is growing among the civil parties. “It’s too easy”, “It’s contempt for the victims”we hear in the room. The court does not intend to let the accused avoid the hearing, a procedure has been initiated. This is a summons to appear, according to article 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure: “If an accused refuses to appear, a summons is made to him in the name of the law, by a bailiff appointed for this purpose by the president, and assisted by the public force. The bailiff draws up a report of the summons and the response of the accused.”

Earlier in the day, his brother Saïmon, eight years old, and his sister Maïlanne, ten years old, were also heard by videoconference. They were placed in a separate room, with a legal service dog, to ease their fear of facing this moment.

Addressing the youngest of the siblings, the president of the court asks if Abdelkader Belarbia, the former spouse of Cécilia Péroux, from whom she had separated two days before her death, was kind to them and to their mother. He replies no, that he “was naughty”, that he “sometimes spanked”,and that to his mother “he said a lot of bad words”that he “hit her.”

They understood perfectly well that their mother had been murdered, and that someone had set fire to the house and wanted to kill them.

Maître Nathalie Preguimbeau

Lawyer for Cécilia Péroux’s two youngest children

“Do you remember when she burned the house down?” the president then asks. “Yes, very good, we were in the room and we were shouting so that the neighbors could hear us, the dog shouted so that all the neighbors could hear us”he says. That evening, his big sister woke him up and he saw the fire starting on the stairs, without seeing his mother. “Did she talk, mom?” finally asked the president. “She said “Goodbye children”, It was Maëlle who repeated it to me.”concludes the young boy.

During their hearing, the children were agitated and Maïlanne vomited. From time to time, they hid under the table, alongside the service dog: “Just talking made them relive that night and it’s unbearable for them”alerts their lawyer, Maître Nathalie Preguimbeau. “If it hadn’t been for this assistance dog, it would have been impossible for them to come and despite everything, I think their suffering is such that it is not possible to express themselves normally.”

For the lawyer for the two youngest children, despite the difficulty of such a moment in court, their word was crucial in this trial. Just like their words, their gestures bear witness to their still vivid trauma. Saïmon expresses the need to see fire detectors checked regularly. Maïlanne’s stress manifests itself physically. “Unfortunately, they remember everything,” deplores Maître Preguimbeau. “They understood perfectly well that their mother had been murdered, and that someone had set fire to the house and wanted to kill them.”