At the Rhône Assize Court
With his head buried in his hands for a long time, bent over in the dock, Mamadou Diallo remains petrified, as if stunned by the verdict that has just fallen. “Sixteen years in prison,” announced the president of the Rhône Assize Court. Tonight you are going to detention. » Acquitted at first instance, the ambulance driver was, this time, found guilty of the murder of Catherine Burgod. A murder committed in 2008 and of which the actor Gérald Thomassin was long suspected.
Behind the glass that separates her from her client, Sylvie Noachovitch grabs Diallo’s hand as a comfort. Modest tears emerge from the ranks of the defense. The mother of the accused tries to approach the box to kiss her son but is called to order by the police. Cries of protest begin to ring out, tempers become heated.
“Justice of m… Is this France? », belches a big burly man as he leaves the audience before being forcefully directed outside. “Mamadou, it’s my life. Mamadou, he can’t even kill a fly, shouts one of his relatives in the middle of the room of lost steps. You are happy ? It’s not him, I swear. »Kept aside, the united civil parties do not dare to rejoice at the verdict. But the time has come for relief.
“Mamadou Diallo is the victim of a judicial error”
“The judicial truth is present. There is a decision of guilt and that is all that interests us, underlines their lawyer Jean-François Barre. We are never satisfied with a man who goes to prison but clearly, the fight is over for them. It’s a fight they’ve been waging for fifteen years. »
On the defense side, Sylvie Noachovitch nevertheless says she is ready to “go all the way”. “We wanted to ease the suffering of the victims but Mamadou Diallo is the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice. My client is confused because he is innocent. For a year, he had lived normally. He felt he was in the hands of good justice. Today, he fell into the hands of poorly administered justice because doubt should have benefited him. And in this matter, there are only doubts,” she proclaims. And to accuse the “Lyon jurors” of having “lacked courage”. Unsurprisingly, the lawyer announced her intention to appeal to the Court of Cassation.