DIRECT. Assassination attempt in Nîmes: the trial resumes, one of the accused fled in the night

Jean-Baptiste Belliure, à gauche, était soupçonné d’avoir ouvert le feu sur le policier de la Bac. MIDI LIBRE – François Barrère

Follow live the fifth day of the trial at the Assizes du Gard of Richard Perez, the Nîmes businessman, nicknamed "The king of trash cans". He is accused of having wanted to eliminate a rival with the help of several convicts, on February 23, 2013 in Nîmes. That evening, a police officer was also targeted by several shotgun shots upon arriving at the scene of the ambush. The five accused, who appear free, deny any involvement in this project. They risk life imprisonment. Verdict this Friday, late.

The trial of Richard Perez, 60 years old, of Robert Alouache, 51 years old, of Hakim Mammad, 51 years old, of Jean-Baptiste Belliure, 65 years old and of Djemel Khadir, a 43-year-old Nîmes, who are accused of an attempted assassination, committed in Nîmes on February 23, 2023, continues this Wednesday, June 12, before the court of Nîmes. rsquo;assises du Gard.

After the surprise confession on Thursday of one of the accused, the day will be devoted to the indictment and the pleadings of the civil party and the defense. The verdict is expected late this Friday evening. Follow the main highlights of this hearing throughout this week.

– 9 h 10 : Me Valérie Fabre-Devèze, civil party for the targeted police officer

Me Valérie Fabre-Devèze begins her pleading.

"You are being called a police conspiracy, a miscarriage of justice, but my client is a police officer who was shot in cold blood, and he intends to demonstrate that’ he has not made up a story, that he is not the author nor the accomplice of a police plot, for him it is very important, it has been eleven years that he awaits the manifestation of the truth."

"It was indeed Mr. Belliure who was there on the day of the incident and it was indeed he who tried to kill my client. We found his DNA on the handgun, the expert tells you that it is very lightly concentrated and mixed with that of Mr. Mammad. But we also find it on the shotgun, a lethal weapon that does a lot of damage."

"His DNA was also found on the passenger door of the vehicle found by the police."

3This point is fundamental, the vehicle was stolen the day before the events, Mr. Belliure was not able to get into it beforehand, and it was subsequently sealed. If Belliure did not go up there that evening, his DNA cannot be found there."

That evening "The whole attitude of the criminal demonstrates that he is someone who has great self-control. The eyes are the mirror of the soul. If Elsa's eyes made Aragon dream, those of Belliure gave the policeman nightmares. He kept this dark and determined look in his memory, it’s something that we don’t forget."

"You are dealing with an experienced official who knows the damage a shotgun can do. At the distance they were, even the pellets would have gone right through it. He sees this look which says that at no price will he allow himself to be challenged."

"When I hear about police conspiracy, it tears my heart. I have been defending police officers for years, if it was a Rambo, he could shoot perfectly immediately it was in self-defense, he does not do it because there is no security for the police third party, there are residents passing by and returning home and they risk being injured."

"He makes the decision not to shoot because he’s a man of honor."

"When he is confronted by Mr. Belliure in the investigating judge's office he says yes, it is indeed that look that I saw that evening. What I would like you to remember is that my client did not look for someone to blame. It was easy to say that it was the suspect arrested by his colleagues, to say that it was him, my gunslinger. He is not looking for a culprit, but for the culprit, the one responsible for shooting him."

"The police are looking for the truth, they are not trying to build a case to bring down someone’ A. I think some people have seen too many American films."

-9 h : the hearing resumes, Jean-Baptiste Belliure has fled

The hearing resumes for the fifth and final day of this trial. The president, who received a few moments earlier Me François Bermond and Me Grégoire Mercier, Jean-Baptiste Belliure's lawyers, announces the news:

"An accused is missing, Mr. Belliure is missing from the appeal and clearly there is no point in the  rsquo;wait, as he attended the entire debates the decision will be contradictory." The court is not issuing an arrest warrant for the moment and will wait until the judgment of the Assize Court is pronounced this evening.

65 years old, originally from Agde, Jean-Baptiste Belliure has already been convicted twice in the Assize Court for robberies. His DNA was found on the shotgun used to open fire on the Bac police officer and on the stolen car used on the evening of February 23, 2013 near the Valvert residence. Yesterday at the hearing he explained that this was a "cop plot" to justify the presence of his DNA on these pieces of evidence.

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