“I was afraid of reprisals from the gypsies”: 14 years required in Montpellier for a young person accused of murdering a teenager

Me Paliès and Me Gérard Christol, 80 years old, civil party. FREE NOON – François Barrère

Amine, a 16-year-old high school student, was stabbed to death in December 2020 in Cité Gély, a gypsy stronghold which is also a hotspot for drug trafficking in the city center. The accused, then aged 17, denied the facts before the Hérault juvenile court, where the closed session was lifted.

"Today, I am convinced that it was the accused who stabbed me. And I find it a shame that he doesn't take responsibility until the end: that would have allowed me to relieve my heart, and perhaps be to forgive". At the Hérault assizes this Wednesday, March 13, the mother of Amine, stabbed in the heart on December 26, 2020 at the Gély city in Montpellier, speaks with emotion about his son, a high school student in Castelnau-le-Lez.

Because of a bike bought for 10 € ?

Amine dreamed of being a firefighter and should never have died at 16 in this stronghold of the gypsy community which is home to several deal points. He was supposed to play Xbox at his friend Idriss's house, but despite the curfew linked to Covid, the two boys find themselves in the city where Idriss has his habits, and where a dark confusion arises, in a dark street, perhaps because of the theft of a bicycle bought for 10 €. But who knows ?

"No gun, no picture, no DNA, no confession. This is the city of omerta" blurted out the attorney general.

 "I saw an altercation, I continued on my way" summarizes Jacques, judged for failure to assist a person in danger. In the city, he has recently been a watchman trembling with fear on a deal point. "There are a lot of people working,  people have hoods, they give you your place and your money. We monitor an area and shout if we see the police."

"They threaten us with weapons"

Hamza, 17 years and nine months at the time, and who appeared detained, for murder, before this juvenile court where the closed session was lifted, he also worked for the dealers. "Over there, they are violent towards us, it’s already happened that they hit us, that& ;rsquo;They threaten us with weapons" he says. By running away from a reinforced educational center, he thus earns 80 € per day, while he is wanted for the fire of a bus in Nanterre, in the summer of 2020. In the aftermath of the crime, ;#39;he denies, he fled to Spain. "I was afraid of reprisals from the gypsies of the Gély city, they have money and the means to find you" just repeats the statement ;accused.

A slightly sharp blow to the upper torso

On the evening of the murder, Hamza joined Zakaria, with whom he shared a hotel room. "I l m’told that he had gotten into trouble with the young man, who had wanted to pay him  a barrette with a fake 20&euro note& ;quot; said Zakaria. "Le young man supposedly acted a little proud and Hamza took out the knife , he said he delivered a slightly sharp blow from the bottom to the top of the torso, but it only hurt him."

"Where can he invent that, it's exactly what the lawyer describes" replies General Advocate Pierre Denier, which requires fourteen years for this murder, the maximum sentence of 30 years being divided in half for a minor.

Finding a balance

"II have been caressing this bar for 60 years, I have everything there seen, heard everything. The decapitated bodies, the crushed children" launches the president of the bar Gérard Christol, civil party with Me Vincent Paliès and Cécile Sauvage. The 80-year-old lawyer speaks, with an emotion "all the greater as I have some times  the feeling that it's the last". And he gives this advice to the jurors. "When you come out with your decision, I would likee to have the feeling of ;having found a balance that everyone can understand. This is the summit of justice which has achieved its goal." Verdict Thursday March 14.

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