The victim was shot in the heart in an old disused sawmill used as a squat south of Le Mans. Seven Iraqis will be tried from Wednesday before the Ille-et-Vilaine Assize Court in Rennes for the murder on January 8, 2020 of one of their compatriots, aged 35. The investigation quickly revealed that the homicide had occurred as part of a settling of scores between smugglers. Two of the alleged attackers were arrested by the police a few minutes after the murder as they tried to flee in a vehicle.
“My client’s position is to say that he was a migrant,” declared Maître Caroline Le Guillard, lawyer for one of the seven accused. He was thrown into something that he didn’t know the ins and outs of. The prosecution’s case is that it was a punitive expedition, and that is disputed by my client. »
“There may be a wholesale price,” according to the lawyer of one of the suspects
“It remains unclear in terms of how the events unfolded and the precise motivation of each party. The Assize Court will have to make choices, there will perhaps be a wholesale price,” said Maître Thierry Fillion, lawyer for another suspect who admits to having had a weapon but says he did not shoot, and who faces life imprisonment. The trial is scheduled to run until January 26.
In March 2022, the Rennes criminal court had already looked into a case of suspected smugglers. Twenty-seven Iraqis were sentenced to prison for smuggling migrants to Britain.