The Doubs Assize Court will judge three men from December 16 to 20, 2024, one of whom is still on the run. On March 8, 2020, in Besançon, Houcine Hakkar, a 22-year-old mechanic, was shot dead while driving his car. Our journalist Antoine Comte is present at the hearing.
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This article is gradually updated. To follow the chronological order of the hearing, we advise you to go down the page.
► Also read: Killed “by mistake” by drug traffickers: the extraordinary trial of Houcine Hakkar’s assassins
The trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
- Mohamed Mordjane : head of the drug trafficking network, known as the “Picardie” clan), he is still on the run.
- Milk Ghezali : on the evening of the tragedy he was driving the car which chased Houcine Hakkar’s car. Melk Ghezali was arrested in Spain in May 2021, then extradited to France.
- Elias Basbas : he is the alleged shooter who coldly fired several bullets at Houcine Hakkar and also attempted to assassinate his passenger
They are indicted for murder, attempted murder and complicity in attempted murder.
In the spring of 2020, the drug traffickers’ war raged in Besançon. Two clans are competing for deal points in the Planoise district, the “de la tour” clan and the “Picardie” clan. As the weeks go by, clashes between rivals multiply. 10 injured. Until that evening, that of carefully planned revenge. The traffickers carry out the operation by trading on an encrypted network.
A week before confinement, on March 8, 2020 around 9 p.m., thinking they had spotted their target, two men chased a blue Mégane car on Avenue Siffert. The passenger fired multiple shots. The occupants of the Megane had time to alert the police. The recordings are chilling: “We’re being shot at!”, “We’re in a car, sir, hurry up, they’re behind us, it’s a red Mégane 5”, “Fuck, sir, we’re going to die, damn it, we’re we’re going to die, we’re going to die, sir.”
Drug trafficking has claimed many victims in Besançon, including one death, Houcine Hakkar, in March 2020.
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© Jean-Stéphane Maurice – France Télévisions
A few moments later, Houcine Hakkar’s car crashed into a traffic light. The pursuers complete their sinister mission. Houcine Hakkar, who was testing a friend’s car that evening, was killed by several bullets, including one to the head. The young mechanic’s vehicle is riddled with 28 bullet holes. His passenger miraculously escaped.
In the evening on the encrypted network, the traffickers will realize that they have killed the wrong person. An innocent man.
Already heavily condemned by the courts, the three men tried during this trial before the Doubs assizes face a sentence of life imprisonment.
