After the extreme wave of violence, arson and looting in French cities, courts have issued the first convictions. The French Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, had asked the court in a circular letter for a “quick and firm” response and the courts seem to be responding.
According to official figures, almost 3,500 people were arrested during the riots, of whom approximately 375 have now appeared before the speed judge and been tried. Since Thursday, the courts of Marseille, Créteil, Bobigny, Nanterre and Grenoble, among others, have already ruled on people suspected of involvement in the riots.
Often the suspects say they regret it, many say they don’t understand why they did what they did. Despite the young age of the suspects and the fact that they did not yet have a criminal record, some of them have received a prison sentence, reports ‘BFMTV’.
Aymeric C. appeared in court in Nanterre last Thursday. He is in his twenties and is on trial for disclosing the name and place of residence of the police officer who shot and killed 17-year-old Nahel in a Snapchat message. Aymeric C. was sentenced to 18 months in prison, 12 of which were suspended.
Sana (18), who is in training, was sentenced to four months in prison for attempting to loot a shop in Marseille. Another man was sentenced to 10 months in prison after he was caught – as a repeat offender – with a can of Red Bull in his hand as he left a shop that had been looted. In Montpellier, a man was jailed for three months for the same offence.
At the court of Bobigny, ten suspects stood trial on Saturday in five cases related to urban violence. Of the ten, eight were imprisoned immediately after the hearing to serve the sentences they had just received.
“There is a breach of collective public security and a strong criminal response is needed, with penalties to set an example,” said a magistrate of the Marseille prosecutor’s office.
“Manipulated”
According to the defense lawyers, “the justice system is completely manipulated” by politicians. “Since the circular of June 30, the approach has changed dramatically,” said lawyer Camille Vannier. She lamented that “very young suspects appearing in court for the first time” are labeled “rioters” by the courts.
“I have never seen anything like this for such minor offenses,” Vannier stressed. What worries me most is that “the judges blindly follow the progress of the prosecution, and that is very worrying in terms of the independence of the judiciary,” concluded the lawyer.
LOOK. It was restless in France for several nights in a row after the death of Nahel (17):
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