the victim is brain dead, the third attacker still on the run

The 26-year-old young man who was violently beaten leaving a nightclub in Besançon (Doubs) on Friday November 8, 2024 is brain dead. Two attackers were indicted and taken into custody. An arrest warrant was issued to find the third on the run.

We now know more about the circumstances of the violent attack of which a young 26-year-old soldier was the victim on the night of Thursday November 7 to Friday November 8, 2024, outside the Le QG nightclub in Besançon (Doubs).

The establishment's video surveillance cameras and those of the Urban Surveillance Center (CSU) made it possible to quickly identify three attackers, indicated Etienne Manteaux, the Public Prosecutor, during a press conference. Two of them were arrested on Saturday November 9 in the middle of the afternoon in Besançon. The third man, on the other hand, is still actively sought by the police.

The two suspects arrested were indicted this Monday for aggravated willful violence and placed in pre-trial detention. All are 19 years old. The first is not known to the courts, the second, on the other hand, has already been the subject of six convictions, including two for violence. He was also incarcerated as a minor.

During their custody, the two suspects admitted to having hit the victim. And to justify them, they declared that the young man had had “inappropriate behavior” towards a young girl, in the toilets of the nightclub, who happens to be the girlfriend of the third attacker. Questioned by investigators, the young woman denied it and explained that the young man had not behaved inappropriately inside the establishment.

This young soldier twice attempted a seductive approach, asking for his cell phone number, which particularly displeased the boyfriend and his friends.

Etienne Manteaux, Public Prosecutor in Besançon.

“One admitted to hitting the young soldier while he was still standing and again when he was on the groundexplains the prosecutor. The second also kicked him several times in the face.” when he was on the ground. The images show the third man giving him other blows, including a very brutal one which caused the victim to fall heavily backwards, whose head hit the tarmac.

The young man, seriously injured, is still in an artificial coma at the Besançon University Hospital where he has been hospitalized since Friday. He suffers from serious brain damage “which led to major cerebral edema”specified Etienne Manteaux. He is hospitalized at the Jean-Minjoz University Hospital. “The victim is brain dead”indicated the Public Prosecutor, without “hope of survival”.

This Tuesday, his mother arrived from Guadeloupe where he was from. His father had already been at his bedside for several days in the hospital. Their friends and relatives have launched an online fundraiser to support them in this ordeal. The affair arouses strong emotion overseas. A family also very surrounded by the comrades of the soldier, engaged in the 19th Engineer Regiment of Besançon.

Laurent Perraut, the new interdepartmental Director of the National Police (DIPN), wanted to express his support for this family “who is going through difficult times”. “We are all very touched by this matter.adds Deborah Bouché, the commissioner at the head of the interdepartmental judicial police service. And we join in the family's pain.”

On the video surveillance images, we see the three attackers leaving “calmly”reveals the prosecutor. “We can think that they did not imagine the seriousness of the victim's injuries,” explains Etienne Manteaux. But if the young soldier were to die, the facts would be reclassified as aggravated intentional violence leading to death without intention of causing it. “A crime punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment”specifies the prosecutor.

Already warned, the ax has fallen for the HQ managers. The Prefect of Doubs has decided to administratively close this nightclub for a period of 30 days, we also learned that same day. A decision which follows “following the numerous acts of violence which were committed when leaving the night establishment”, as well as “multiple complaints from local residents for nuisance”, explains Rémy Bastille.

“Disturbances to public order around this establishment have been noted repeatedly by the police in recent months”he adds in his press release, obviously mentioning the latter and “grave” assault. “In addition, the broadcast of amplified music and the results of the acoustic measurements carried out make it possible to attest that the activity of the establishment has a strong impact on the neighborhood.”

The decision to temporarily close the nightclub has been taken “at the end of a contradictory procedure carried out by the prefecture services which allowed the managers of the establishment to put forward their arguments and observations”, it is finally clarified.