“You identify two enemies, Monoblet and the migrants!” : two young Gardois condemned after a nighttime epic punctuated by gunshots

The trial was held this Thursday, June 27, at the Alès courthouse, in the Gard. MIDI LIBRE – CHARLES LEDUC

Two childhood friends were tried in Alès, this Thursday, June 27, after a series of shots, four months ago, in the direction of a shelter for unaccompanied minors and a building in Anduze, and the bar of a small village. Hearing their explanations, the public prosecutor declared: “My arms are falling off!”

The public prosecutor of Alès, Abdelkrim Grini, speaks of a worrying, even disconcerting, seriousness. Facts of distressing stupidity." They had even "caused a real stir" and "created concern". Facing him, in the defendants' box of the criminal court, are, this Thursday, June 27, Yanis and Arthur, two childhood friends aged 19, arrested the day before and released from police custody in the morning. On the night of February 18 to 19, with two rifles, they fired several times: in the direction of a bar, in Monoblet, also in the direction of a building in the town of Monoblet. Anduze, where migrants are housed, unaccompanied minors more precisely. At the opening of the trial, President Julia Salery immediately underlines the "very fine investigation" of the gendarmes of the brigades of research in Vigan and Alès which succeeded, from not much information, in identifying the accused, who admitted the facts as soon as they were arrested.

Weapons found in Saint-Félix-de-Pallières

To listen to these two, what they are accused of took place at the end of a drunken evening at Yanis's, with weapons which would have been found on the floor of the Saint- Félix-de-Pallières. Facts that look like a true epic! Yanis wanted to show his friend how a gun works and fired, at eye level, towards the entrance hall, breaking the window. Three shots are then fired by the two young people, who are in a car, heading towards a bar in Monoblet. A town where the previous summer, during a party, Yanis would have been the victim of violence! And then, back in Anduze, it’s Arthur, this time, who fires three times at a home occupied by migrants. Because one of them, according to the defendant, would have sexually assaulted his girlfriend and would not have been punished severely enough by the courts. It was, in fact, a sexist insult, specifies the president, and the migrant whose accommodation was targeted had nothing to do with this affair.

A defendant sobs, the court gets annoyed

First questioned, Yanis sobs: "We didn't mean to do any harm ; we didn't want to touch anyone." "I can't believe it!& quot;, annoys Julia Salery. But this young person persists that "we just wanted to degrade". A position that Arthur also defends: "It was a complete meltdown. We left on a whim […] I didn't realize it at the time." Pointed out for the shots at the center of& ;rsquo;accommodation of migrants, the latter ensures that "it’is, in no case, a racist act", that’ ;he just wanted "to intimidate". The president does not let anything pass, denounces “a kind of justification”. “You identify two enemies, Monoblet and the migrants !", she notes. “In your reasoning, it doesn't matter. We go there and we do harm."

Electronic bracelet or arrest warrant ?

"My arms drop!", Abdelkrim Grini says, after hearing the defendants' explanations. He requests two years in prison for them, one of which is suspended probation. Yanis then bursts into tears. Given the personality of these two young people, unknown and almost unknown to the justice system, he requested an electronic bracelet for the firm part, before delivering:“Otherwise, a warrant of arrest”

“At 19, you're still a big baby”

“There are some pairs of slaps that get lost”, attacks Me Florence Mendez, Yanis' lawyer. “At 19, you're still a child. At 19, you're still a big baby and you're always doing whatever you want." Me Anaïs Farget, who is defending Arthur, says she is "moved" faced with the severity of the indictment. The lawyer regrets that what her client experienced after the attack on his friend, "a destroyed young woman, whom he was afraid of losing, that she would commit suicide", was not taken into account. She explains that he felt that a fine imposed on the author was not sufficient: "The depth of anger and emotion, it’s important to talk about it to understand…"

An acquittal is requested for the two defendants

The two counsels jointly plead for acquittal, because, they believe, in this case of armed violence, there are no intentional elements. "We are here to do law, not to do morality", insists Me Farget.

What do the magistrates of the seat ultimately decide??

Partial acquittal is obtained for the shooting against the building located opposite Yanis' home, not for the rest. In the end, the two friends received the sentence that the prosecution hoped for. With an electronic bracelet. The defendants understand that they are not going to detention. They breathe a "phew" of relief as they hold on to the box bench.

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