“When we do not have proof, we draw the consequences. At the trial of the riots in the death of Adama Traoré in 2016, the attorneys general requested Tuesday the acquittal of his brother Bagui and up to twelve years imprisonment for three alleged perpetrators of shooting on the police.
Five people have been appearing for two weeks before the Assize Court of Val-d’Oise for gunfire during urban violence, in Persan and Beaumont-sur-Oise, during the nights following the death of the young 24-year-old black man on July 19, 2016, shortly after his arrest by the gendarmes.
“I have no proof,” says the general counsel
In a four-hour indictment in two voices, Advocate General Ingrid Gorgen felt that the material elements were lacking to demonstrate that the “twin” of Adama Traoré’s heart had been one of the shooters or had given them orders.
“I’m not here to speculate, I don’t have any proof. And when we have no evidence, we draw the consequences, “admitted the representative of the prosecution, considering that the hearing had given a” different reading “of the elements from the investigation.
More than 70 members of the law enforcement agencies as civil parties
In this “non-standard” file with 13,123 listed documents, three weeks of hearing and more than 70 members of the law enforcement agencies as civil parties, the two advocates general also asked the court to declare three other defendants guilty of attempted murder of persons holding public authority.
According to the prosecution, these three men did shoot guns during the nights of riots – which two of them totally or partially deny – with the intention of killing. The advocates general demanded against two of them twelve years of criminal imprisonment, and eight years of imprisonment for the third.
“Adama Traoré has passed away. Anger, hatred and rage mounted. We had to kill blue, ”summarized Luc Pelerin, the other representative of the prosecution at the trial, with reference to the color of the uniform of the police.
Defense pleadings will take place on Wednesday. The verdict is expected Friday.