At the courthouse in Amiens,
Supporters, journalists… The hall of the courthouse in Amiens (Somme) is packed this Monday. Many people have no seats and remain standing to attend the trial of three men, tried for having assaulted the grand-nephew of Brigitte Macron on May 15, in front of his chocolate factory, on the sidelines of an undeclared demonstration against pension reform. The victim, Jean-Baptiste Trogneux, is absent. The young man, aged 29, preferred not to face the three defendants, aged 20, 22 and 34, who are appearing for violence in meetings. It is therefore his neighbor opposite, Hervé, 57, who recounts the scene in court. That evening, he was watching television when a fight broke out in the street. He looked out the window and saw three “three individuals who were hitting someone”.
“They were killing him,” he said. He immediately took to the streets and tried “to create a diversion by telling them that they were cowards”. He then recognizes the victim, whom this “group which was determined” attacks. “He was completely stunned, he no longer knew where he was”, continues the witness, claiming to have “been afraid” for Jean-Baptiste Trogneux. In view of the family ties of the victim with the first lady, the case had caused a stir at the time. The vigorous investigation led to the arrest of eight suspects. But four people were released after their custody. In addition, a 16-year-old girl, also prosecuted, is to be tried later by a juvenile judge.
“I touch it but I don’t damage it”
Finally, only three young men, who had been remanded in custody, are present on Monday in the defendants’ box. The youngest, Florian C., is illiterate. He struggles to express himself and to answer questions from President Samuel Grévin. Does he understand them anyway? Already convicted of rape and sexual assault, he admits having given “a slap” to the victim. The small group, he explains, had positioned trash cans in the shop of Jean-Baptiste Trogneux, who went to meet him to prevent them. “He then pushed one of our friends”, justifies the defendant. “Why did you move the trash cans? What are you doing here tonight? asks the president. The young man, who was entrusted to child welfare when he was 12, is wallowing in silence. “It’s not to bother you”, engages the magistrate who will not obtain further details.
Yoan L., the oldest, is the man who was “josted” by the civil party. “I fell to the ground and when I wanted to fight back, I missed my shot. A person then took me away from the group, ”says this man under curatorship. “This colleague saved me, he took me away from the herd so that I wouldn’t do any damage,” he continues. The small group had, he said, the sole purpose of “putting the trash in front of the door, that’s all”. “I did not think, I accompanied the friends. ” Why ? “The chocolates at Trogneux are expensive. “But he swears not to have hit the grand-nephew of Brigitte Macron who “pushed him hard”. “I touch it but I don’t damage it”, finally recognizes this man already convicted of domestic violence and death threat.
“I didn’t touch him”
Holder of a masonry CAP, the third defendant, Adrien F., is unemployed but claims to be an “independent journalist” on Tik Tok. . “Why were you identified by Mr. Trogneux as having struck him? asks President Grévin. “I don’t know how he could say it was me when I didn’t touch him”, insists the defendant, who has been sentenced in the past twice by a juvenile court for committing violence . The young man even explains that he did not see the scene because he was watching on the phone the interview that President Macron gave to TF1 “to ask questions to the demonstrators”.
Jean-Baptiste Trogneux’s lawyer, Me Franck Delahousse, explains that his client, who received four days of total incapacity for work (ITT), left his home to “protect his shop, his partner and his children” who live above. The chocolatier was “victim of completely gratuitous violence”. His defender deplores the lack of explanations from the defendants and “words of compassion for the victim”. Brigitte Macron’s great-nephew, he concludes, simply wishes “no longer to fear that this type of abuse will occur” and asks for “peace”.
A “gratuitous, violent and serious” attack
“What I fear is that we will find ourselves in a few years before an assize court because we will not have been able to prevent them from causing more serious acts”, affirms the prosecutor Jean-Philippe Vicentini, who denounces a “gratuitous, violent and serious” aggression. “The motive is odious in this file, the atmosphere was vindictive vis-à-vis the President of the Republic, we saw a way to get over the establishment and Jean-Baptiste Trogneux”, he believes. . At the hearing, “I saw cowards” trying to “escape their responsibility”, explains the magistrate who requires a prison sentence of three and a half years, against Yoan, two years and a half against Florian and a year and a half against Adrien.
Did they have “a political motive”? “The person I am defending does not have the intellectual capacity”, pleads Adrien’s lawyer, Me Alice Cordier, stressing that the investigation had not made it possible to determine “clearly, precisely and unequivocally what happened “. “Is he the author of violence? I still don’t have proof. »
After deliberating for an hour with the assessors, President Grévin makes his decision. Adrien is released with the benefit of the doubt. Florian C. is sentenced to two years in prison, one of which is closed, and remains in detention. Yoan L. was sentenced to 30 months in prison, 15 of which were closed. He too is being held in detention. In court, the supporters of the three defendants exploded with joy. ” We won ! they shout in the street, before some run off, chased by police.