“An unpinned grenade”: life sentence and 22 years of security required in Avignon for the murderer of police officer Eric Masson

L'avocate générale Florence Galtier, procureure d'Avignon. MIDI LIBRE – François Barrère

Attorney General Florence Galtier also requested sentences of three and six years in prison against the two accomplices who protected the young accused's escape for several days, until his arrest by the SRPJ of Montpellier at the Remoulins tollbooth.

General Counsel Florence Galtier requested this Thursday, February 29, life imprisonment, accompanied by a security sentence of 22 years, against ;#39;Ilyes Akoudad, 23, who confessed to having killed brigadier Eric Masson, a 38-year-old father, with two bullets fired at close range on May 5, 2021 in downtown Avignon .

The dangerousness of the accused

"We have all the ingredients for another act, he is a potential repeat offender. The most severe repression must be imposed in this case. You have all the elements, all the ingredients which demonstrate to you the dangerousness of Ilyes Akoudad. 22 years during which his sentence will neither be reduced nor adjusted. Without this, you release an unpinned grenade" insisted the magistrate before the Vaucluse Assize Court, which must deliver its verdict either this evening or tomorrow.< /p>

The magistrate also requested a three-year prison sentence against Ismael Boujti, who had housed Ilyes Akoudad for several days after the crime in an illegal grocery store set up in a cellar in a district of the city. Avignon, and six years in prison against Ayoub Abdi who helped him in his attempt to escape by illegal taxi to Spain.

He would have taken the police officer for another dealer, a rival

Ilyes Akoudad, who has denied any responsibility for this crime since his arrest, finally confessed on Monday February 26, upon a question from one of his lawyers, Me Frank Berton, who defends him with Me Elise Arfi, explaining that he panicked when he initially thought that the plainclothes policeman was another dealer, who had come to sell in these streets that he considered his territory.

"We had a perfectly orchestrated, publicized confession. We had a show that didn't have to be" lamented the magistrate. "Éric Masson was executed without warning, by an individual drunk with violence, proud of the gesture accomplished. Not at the hearing, where he remained prostrate for 10 days. He bowed his back, tried to be forgotten, forgiven, loved, and publicized."

For having killed a police officer, Ilyes Akoudad theoretically faces a so-called irreducible life sentence, with a 30-year security sentence and limited possibilities for parole thereafter.