Their names are Steve, Johanna, Rayane or Adrien. All were present in Strasbourg when looters attacked a Zara store, a Lacoste store or the Apple Store last weekend. Arrested in the process, they appeared Monday after two nights in police custody and one night in pre-trial detention.
Steve, 37, is a delivery driver on a permanent contract. Black T-shirt, close-cropped hair, he is being prosecuted for theft. His concubine, Johanna, 29, a saleswoman in a motorway rest area, is by his side in the glass box. She responds with complicity in theft. On Friday, the couple came for a walk downtown. Steve picked up new clothes that a looter had left on the road. He distributed some to Johanna and her daughter, as well as to passers-by.
“It was a highly educational and pedagogical act for your daughter”, mocks the president, Philippe Schneider. “I don’t know what got into me,” replied the defendant. “I know, it’s a bad example. I made a mistake “. “In this case, we steal as a family. What an example! “, attacks the prosecutor, Alexandre Chevrier. It requires six months of firm imprisonment for sir, and four months of house arrest under bracelet for madam.
“These people do not destroy, do not break”, underlines the lawyer, Me Laure Fitoussi. “We are on an unprecedented, extraordinary scene, which leads people to behave inconsistently. But in a more normal context, we would never have had such heavy penalties,” she said, asking for a sentence of day parole.
In fact, the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, called for a “rapid, firm and systematic” response after the riots following the death of Nahel, killed by a policeman in Nanterre. The court follows the requisitions of the prosecution. Steve goes back to detention for six months, his partner will wear an electronic bracelet until the fall.
“Big bullshit”
Next folder. Adrien is 19 years old, he admits having made a “big mistake” by sending back to the police a puck of tear gas projected by the police. His hand was slightly burned in the process. Faced with looting, “why are you staying? “Asks the prosecutor, Alexandre Schneider. ” I do not really know. The group effect I think, ”retorts the defendant. “When do you use your brain? “. No response from the young man.
The defendant admits that the police did “only their job”, that he “added fuel to the fire”. “He is one of the rioters,” argues the prosecutor. “When you throw a projectile, you run the risk of seriously injuring yourself. Socially, this behavior is not acceptable”. He asks for twelve months of imprisonment with regard to the young man, of which six closes. “In exceptional circumstances, exceptional penalties. But the Penal Code remains the same, ”repeats Me Fitoussi, who would prefer community service.
The penalty falls. Relaxed from the facts of gathering with a weapon, Adrien is sentenced for violence to twelve months in prison, four of which are closed. Warrant of deposit, the noise of the handcuffs resounds in the room.
“Have you taken the time to take clothes that are your size? »
Rayane, 26, walked into the Zara store. He came out “with a large bundle of clothes under his arm”, remarks the president, video surveillance in support. – “Did you take the time to take clothes in your size?” asks the magistrate. Negative response from the interested party. “What were you planning to do with it? “Nothing,” breathes the defendant.
The latter emphasizes that he has not committed any degradation. “It was an opportunistic theft: it was broken, I didn’t think, I entered”. Given his ten mentions in the record, the prosecutor requires ten months firm, “to prevent the renewal of the facts”.
Despite the challenges of the lawyer, who claims a sentence “proportionate to the facts” for a young person who has “not done anything for five years, who works”, the judges follow the requisitions. Rayane goes back to prison.