The young 26-year-old Guadeloupean soldier, beaten up outside the HQ nightclub last week, is brain dead, said the Besançon Public Prosecutor. Two suspects were arrested. The third attacker, identified, is still on the run.
Samuel Piqueur and Emmanuel Deshayes
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Published on November 12, 2024 at 6:57 p.m.,
updated November 12, 2024 at 6:58 p.m.
Five days after the violent attack on a soldier from Guadeloupe at the exit of the Nightclub, the HQ, the public prosecutor of Besançon, Etienne Manteaux held a press conference this Tuesday. He said the 26-year-old was in a state of brain death.
Still plunged into an artificial coma at the Jean-Minjoz University Hospital in Besançon where he has been hospitalized since last Friday, he would be “without hope of survival“, informed the prosecutor. He would suffer from serious brain damage “which led to major cerebral edema,” he continues.
As of Saturday, two 19-year-old suspects were arrested in Besançon, indicted and placed in detention for violence in a meeting. The first is not known to the courts, but the second is more unfavorably known. He has already been the subject of six convictions, including two for violence. They are suspected of having participated in the beating of this soldier from the 19th Engineer Regiment specializing in “water and energy production“. A third suspect is still on the run, but he has reportedly been identified by the courts. An arrest warrant has been issued to find him.
The three attackers were all identified by the nightclub’s CCTV cameras. During his press conference, the public prosecutor of Besançon revealed that they “ left quietly.”
We can imagine that they did not imagine the seriousness of the victim’s injuries.”
Etienne Manteaux, public prosecutor in Besançon
He also indicated that the facts could be reclassified as aggravated intentional violence leading to death without intention of causing it in the event of the death of the Guadeloupean. “A crime punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment”, he specifies.
The 26-year-old soldier was attacked by the three men out of jealousy. During their custody, the two arrested suspects declared that the Guadeloupean had had “inappropriate behavior” in the toilets of the night establishment, towards a young girl, who is none other than the girlfriend of the third attacker on the run. Questioned by investigators, the young woman did not give the same version of the facts. According to her, the victim did not behave inappropriately towards her.
The Guadeloupean received several blows while he was on the ground, said the public prosecutor of Besançon. “One admitted to hitting the young soldier while he was still standing and again when he was on the groundhe explained. The second also kicked him several times in the face when he was on the ground.. According to video surveillance images consulted by investigators, the third also punched him, one of which caused him to fall. The victim’s head then hit the ground violently.
Arriving on site from Guadeloupe, the family of the young soldier who had been in France for a year and a half, is at his bedside. ” She is taken care of, accompanied and supported by the regiment”, specifies a military source. Friends and relatives of the young man have launched an online fundraiser to support his family.
The interdepartmental director of the national police of Besançon, Laurent Perraut wanted to provide support to the family who are experiencing “difficult times“.
The nightclub, the headquarters where the events occurred, is closed for a period of 30 days.
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