Cyclist dead in Paris: motorist indicted for murder

The 52-year-old motorist, suspected of having killed a 27-year-old cyclist on Tuesday in Paris, was indicted on Friday for murder, AFP learned from a source close to the case.

He must now appear before a liberty and detention judge, who will decide whether or not he is incarcerated.

“My client cannot explain what happened, which seems to be a maneuvering error or a loss of control of the vehicle in the stress and anguish of a conflict situation from which he was trying to escape. “, assured AFP his lawyer, Me Franck Cohen.

“We give him an image of a person without compassion, but that is not the case, he thinks much more about this young man, who is the age of his son, than about himself,” continued Me Cohen. .

The accident sparked strong reactions from elected officials in the capital, where soft mobility, in particular bicycles, has taken an increasingly prominent place in recent years.

The events took place Tuesday at 5:45 p.m., on Boulevard Malesherbes, in the 8th arrondissement.

According to “testimony collected at this stage” and the use of video surveillance, “the driver of the vehicle was going up the cycle path for 200 meters and would have driven over the foot of the cyclist who was on his left”, reported the prosecution to the outcome of his custody.

The young man, Paul Varry, “knocked on the hood to alert the driver, who initially backed away, freeing his foot,” continues the public prosecutor.

“The cyclist had dropped his bike and positioned himself at the front left of the car, showing his displeasure. The driver then turned his wheels towards the pedestrian and resumed driving forward in his direction,” he added.

“The autopsy confirmed the marks of the body being crossed by the vehicle” and “the video surveillance shows an elevation of the front, then the rear of the left side of the vehicle”, it was specified.

Around 200 people gathered on Wednesday evening at Place de la Madeleine in Paris to pay tribute to the victim.

In 2023, 226 cyclists died on the roads of France, exceeding the threshold of 200 deaths for the third year in a row.