They had fled the poverty of Romania in the hope of experiencing a little more success on the Franco-Swiss border. For this, Angela Rostas, with her husband, changed countries and languages. In order to offer a future to their children and so that they can go to school. His dearest wish. The one for which she moved heaven and earth. But 15 years later, that hope ended with the worst nightmare. On February 22, 2024, in Chênex in Haute-Savoie, Angela Rostas, a mother and seven months pregnant, was murdered because she was a Roma.
This Monday, June 11, Tarzan Rostas, the husband, wears mourning: as tradition dictates, he does not touch his black beard, which continues to grow since this disastrous Thursday, February 22.
That day, in the small town of Chênex, in Haute-Savoie, it was around 6 p.m. when Angela Rostas, in the kitchen, was busy preparing soup for dinner. Near her, her husband and two of her three daughters, Demisa, aged 13, and Rada, 14. Almost a year ago, the family moved into a mobile home in the countryside, among trees and a green landscape. Land on which they live, completely legally, in agreement with its owner and the mayor of the town, according to the father.
Quite a symbol for the couple who were surviving in emergency accommodation in Geneva, located a few kilometers away . “Before, they lived in a small mobile home, but this one was bigger. Angela was very happy because there were rooms for her daughters,” book Inès Calstas, member of the Pastorale des milieus Ouverts association, in Geneva, who knew the family well.
“They killed our happiness”
A noise disrupts the usual tranquility. Curious, the eldest sibling opens the door. A glance outside, nothing in sight. She returns. A new sound is heard. The mother comes out in turn. Outside, a new noise resonates, fatal. At the foot of her door, Angela collapses to the ground. She was shot in the stomach. Her husband and young daughters scream in panic and watch the scene helplessly.
The arrival of the Samu, around thirty minutes later, will not change the outcome of the tragedy. The mother died at 6:50 p.m. She took her seven-month-old fetus with her. “We were going to have a son. They killed our happiness”, cries Tarzan Rostas.
An investigation was then carried out by the Haute-Savoie gendarmerie group and the Chambéry research section. The latter noticed an impact on a gas bottle located outside the mobile home. “It was the first shot, the father of the family painfully remembers. They wanted to kill us all! »
Two men placed in pre-trial detention
Several avenues as to the motive for the crime are being studied by investigators. The one that will be retained, at the end of the four-month investigation, will be murder and attempted murder because of race, ethnicity, nation or religion. Two individuals were indicted and placed in pre-trial detention for these facts on June 7, 2024. Matthias Oberson, 26, admitted to having fired, while denying having deliberately hit his victim. And a second 30-year-old man (whose identity has not been communicated), who dropped off the shooter at the crime scene and who came to pick him up afterwards.
Two days before the murder, on the night of Tuesday February 20 to Wednesday February 21, the two suspects also admitted to having shot at caravans of travelers, located in car parks in Viry and Essertet, neighboring towns.
The father says he has already seen the two suspects lurking near his home in the car. “I said hello to them, they didn’t answer me. » According to The Parisian , many rumors hovered around Tarzan, but also about Travelers (the Roma make up some of the Travelers). Recent burglaries give rise to suspicion and fuel a context of mistrust. For years, strong tensions have appeared in Haute-Savoie, and in particular in the Genevois region, where the village of Chênex is located: at the heart of the debate, the lack of travel areas, denounced on one side, and illegal installations on illicit locations, on the other, accompanied by accusations of endangering public tranquility and security.
“No one talks about it, there’s a problem”
The murder was reported in a few local press articles. The facts go relatively unnoticed. “No one talks about it, there is a problem, it’s anti-Gypsyism! “, rages Saïmir Mile, lawyer with the Voix des Roma association, exasperated by this silence. He filed a complaint on February 28 for a racist crime. ” The minister of the Interior (Gérald Darmanin, Editor’s note), always tweets when an imam is expelled. But we did not hear him congratulate the exemplary work of the police in this case. »
Those who knew Angela, her story, her smile, did not remain silent. In front of a supermarket located in a popular area of Geneva, a few kilometers from Chênex, the surrounding residents left flowers as well as a photo with Angela’s face embedded in a heart. Above this modest cardboard, three letters, RIP. Rest in peace.
“She was rooted in this neighborhood”
It was in front of this supermarket that she got into the habit of begging. Every morning, after accompanying her children to school in Geneva, in the Pâquis district, then in 2022, in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, she went to the door of the supermarket, to collect the few under whom his family lives. “Usually people who beg don’t bond with people, but Angela, it was Angela, tells Inès Calstas with emotion. She was rooted in this neighborhood. Everyone here knew Angela. » “He sometimes brought old ladies’ carts back to their homes,” glides with a smile Thomas Vachetta, social worker in Geneva.
In 2015, Angela met Inès. She asks him to provide a bathroom so that women can wash their long hair. A wish that will be granted after a Pastoral fundraiser.
When her daughters grow up, Angela returns to Inès for a new request. That of helping him educate Rada and Demisa. “Everyone knew she was begging for her daughters. She spoke about it with great pride, saying that they do well at school. insists Inès. “Angela fought to send her children to school. She was strong-willed and knew how to seize social opportunities with the sole aim of offering them a better future,” reveals Thomas Vachetta.
Angela also participates in the associative life of the Pastorale. Every Monday, she helps the association sort clothes for the most disadvantaged, like her.
“The first word they learn is: get out”
“She had a joy of living, even though she had a life of misery,” delivers the Geneva social worker. It’s difficult to escape the harsh daily life of the Roma, full of intimidation and threats.
In Geneva, Angela received fines for begging. “A law prohibits begging in certain places in the city. If we add it up, the fine amounted to several thousand francs, explains Dina Bazarbachi, a criminal lawyer who defended Angela pro bono. She had been in court for years. She risked prison. But she alone supported her family. »
Since their arrival on French territory, their accommodation has been burned down twice. The Rostas did not file a complaint. “The Roma experience injustice. They are aware of it, it is their daily life. They are used to being rejected. The first word they learn in French is: “dégage”.” explains Inès, who works with many Roma people.
After their mother’s funeral, the two girls returned to Romania. And they are no longer in school. “Here, it’s over for them, Tarzan Rostas is indignant. How do you want them to be safe? »
