The children’s court delivered its verdict this Friday. She sentences 5 of the 7 defendants to sentences ranging from 18 years in prison to life imprisonment.
After a week of trial, the verdict has been reached following the organized murder of Steven Z., a 13 and a half year old teenager on January 24, 2021.
Two individuals were sentenced to life imprisonment. Another received a 30-year prison sentence. These three individuals were also sentenced to a permanent ban from French territory.
Two minors who were over 16 at the time of the events were sentenced to 18 years in prison. Two other minors, aged 16 at the time, were acquitted.
The verdict is experienced as a relief by Steven Z’s family.” The family is very happy that justice has been served.” announces their lawyer Maître Alexandre Volz. On the defense side, Maître Jean-Paul Ekeu, lawyer for one of the defendants, announces that he wants to appeal. ” I do not dispute the somewhat harsh nature of the facts but he applies the law.”
The attorney general could also appeal after the acquittal of two accused. Another trial, for the same case, is also due to take place before the juvenile court soon. It concerns four minors at the time of the events, the youngest of whom was twelve years old.
Trials are also expected on the two other murders of this weekend of horror experienced in January 2021 in Labattoir. A defense lawyer admitting to us that “the link has been established between the three murders” during this weekend in January 2021.
