This Tuesday, the trial of the DVD mayor of Roubaix, Guillaume Delbar, for embezzlement of public funds “by negligence” via subsidies to a supposed proselyte association, was postponed October 13, 2022.
At this Tuesday’s hearing, Guillaume Delbar was absent, as was his lawyer, affected by Covid-19, who had requested a dismissal for health reasons. In addition to the elected official, three members of the association, Ambitions and initiatives for success (AAIR), were to appear. They are prosecuted for “breach of trust” between 2016 and 2020. Present at the hearing on Tuesday before the criminal court, they saw their judicial review maintained.
“Media excitement around this case”
The defendants’ lawyers also argued on Tuesday that there was a lack of time to study the case. They also highlighted “the media excitement around this affair”, according to Mr. Gildas Brochen, lawyer for the treasurer of the AAIR, after the evocation of the facts in a report by “Zone Interdite” devoted to the “dangers of radical Islam.
The controversy after its broadcast, on January 23, had even reacted to the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin. Worse still, following threats, the presenter, Ophélie Meunier, as well as a young man from Roubaix, Amine Elbahi, who appears in the report, were placed under police protection.