On November 19, 2023, the “winter ball” in this village in Drôme Provençale degenerated with clashes between young people who had arrived during the evening and a group of locals. In a confusing context, the first ones take out knives and seriously injure four people, including Thomas, a 16-year-old high school student who loves rugby, who dies in the ambulance.
The issue immediately ignites the political class, with the right and the far right seizing the subject to denounce growing insecurity in the countryside, according to them coming from sensitive suburbs.
Investigators quickly made the first arrests. Others will follow in March. In total, 14 people, including three minors, are indicted for “intentional homicide and attempted intentional homicide by an organized gang”.
In one year, despite hearing from around a hundred witnesses and the existence of videos, investigators have still not been certain of the author of the fatal blow. All the accused, eight of whom remain in detention, deny their responsibility, even if suspicions focus on two or three of them, according to a source close to the case.
“There are 14 indicted but not 14 murderers”summarizes Me Elise Rey-Jacquot who defends two men with her colleague Bilel Hakkar. She defends the scenario of a “prom fight that escalates, not an organized, planned, racist attack.”
“Worthy”
Thomas' family, received this week by the two investigating judges with other victims, is ready to wait the time necessary for the investigations, according to their advice, Me Alexandre Farelly.
They have “trust” in justice and demonstrate “patience”. “If we want it to be rendered qualitatively, we must give it this time”explains the lawyer to AFP. “It’s an ordinary family, faced with something that is beyond them. And they manage to remain dignified”he emphasizes.
“It’s always difficult, in a single scene of violence, to identify a stabbing perpetrator, in the face of people who don’t always want to talk”notes for his part Mr Denis Dreyfus.
The lawyer is preparing to represent several victims, including the ball organizing committee and young people injured during the evening. Some “had not yet found the strength” to undertake the process of filing a civil suit after “a traumatic scene”he notes.
Dramatic coincidence. Almost a year later, tragedy struck again at the rugby club where Thomas played: Nicolas Dumas, 22, was shot and killed outside an Ardèche nightclub on Halloween night. A “act of intimidation” which would have gone wrong, according to justice.
“There was a certain form of acceptance and living with that had been established” within the club, confides Tristan Tardy, one of the leaders of RC Romans-Péage. “I fear that we are being plunged back into a psychologically complicated period for many young people…”
Identity
For all the protagonists, it was also necessary to manage the media and political echo of the affair, invading the feeds of social networks, but also the streets, with rallies of the ultra-right “for Thomas” in several cities.
A demonstration resembling a punitive expedition even took place in Romans-sur-Isère in the Monnaie district where some of the suspects came from.
While the drama was still on everyone's mind, Crépol placed RN candidate Thibaut Monnier in the lead in the first round of the early legislative elections. He went on to win the constituency.
Two identity associations attempted to become civil parties, without success, AFP learned from corroborating sources.
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