Courtroom number 101 was almost deserted on this Friday morning. Only a few journalists were present in the room. The day after his Europa League match won against Macabi Haïfa, Stade Rennais player Baptise Santamaria was summoned to the bar of the Rennes criminal court in a case of domestic violence where he is both accused and victim. His ex-partner accuses him of having struck her twice during an argument in front of their son near his home in Vern-sur-Seiche, on October 21, 2022.
Standing next to him, his ex-partner is in the same situation. The one who denounces these two blows is also accused by the football player of having kicked him in the ankle. The Stade Rennais midfielder was then in the rehabilitation phase after a nasty injury on the same ankle contracted one month before the dispute. “I had taken off my splint a week earlier. I had not regained all my balance,” explained the Stade Rennais player at the bar, before evoking “a feeling of discharge” at the time of the altercation.
The case is, however, fairly banal and seems to clutter up an already busy court. Because beyond the low seriousness of the facts, one element is of concern. In January, the footballer and his ex-partner withdrew their mutual complaint, explaining that they “wanted to move on”. It was the Rennes public prosecutor’s office which saw fit to take the procedure to a criminal hearing. “There is no small file for the victims. But I think we are in a case that is taking on unreasonable proportions,” notes the lawyer for the player’s former partner. “I don’t know anything about football but we can think that if the gentleman was not a professional footballer, there would not have been all these prosecutions,” adds Me Sammy Jeanbart. The latter still requested the conviction of the player, considering that he had “recognized the blows” by evoking “self-defense”.
“She told me she drove better than me”
Let’s rewind a bit. It is October 21, 2022 when Baptiste Santamaria shows up with his new partner in front of his house where his ex lives, from whom he has just separated. He has to pick up their 5-year-old son for the weekend and wants the latter to get in the car driven by his new girlfriend. The boy’s mother refuses, saying she does not know who this woman is or how she drives. A delicious exchange of pleasantries between the two women follows. “She told me she drove better than me. I told him that I would rather be a poor driver than put a Ligue 1 player as a trophy and have syphilis between my legs,” explains Stacy G. at the helm.
The latter was in a relationship with Baptiste Santamaria since 2015 while the latter played in Tours. She then followed him to Angers then to Friborg (Germany) before arriving in Rennes, where the midfielder had signed in 2021. After a few months of living together in Vern-sur-Seiche with their first child, the player had decided to break up, shortly before the birth of their daughter. “She was seven months pregnant when she found out he was leaving. A week before, she had organized a party to announce the sex of the baby to her family,” recalls Stacy G’s lawyer.
The player’s lawyer pleads for release
Questioned by the president, the two accused victims maintained their version. She denies having struck a blow against her ex-partner. He believes he simply “rejected” the young woman, who is more than a head shorter than him, evoking “a shock” following the blow allegedly received on a bruised ankle. Examined by a doctor outside their custody, the former couple had each received one day of ITT and “a prescription for paracetamol”, as the president recalled with a touch of irony.
“Mr. Santamaria absolutely must not be convicted,” defended his lawyer Me Catherine Glon, who believes that her client “did not strike any blow” but at worst “perhaps a gesture”. In court, the lawyer even tried to mime the scene to defend her client, broadcasting three videos taken just after the argument where we learned almost nothing.
The few curious people present in the room were also entitled to the unpacking of the financial efforts made by the player since their separation and even to the revelation of the monthly salary of the midfielder, like all the litigants who appear at the bar. The prosecutor simply requested a citizenship training course for the two defendants. After a short hour of hearing, the president reserved the decision, which will be rendered on October 6.