The two passengers of the private jet loaded with nearly 700 kg of drugs discovered in Punta Cana refused to speak at the appeal trial of the two pilots and 4 co-defendants, to the chagrin of the defense which considers them to be central links of the “Air Cocaine” affair.
Thursday afternoon, Alain Castany appeared by videoconference in the courtroom of the Assize Court of Appeal of Bouches-du-Rhône. “I do not want to make any statement,” he said immediately, however, accompanied by his lawyer.
Not judged in France
Nicolas Pisapia, the second passenger, still under judicial supervision in the Dominican Republic, was due to testify on Friday but his French lawyer has already indicated that he would also refuse to speak.
The two men, who were sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Dominican justice, have still not been tried in France, where they are also accused in this case, in which their case was disjointed.
Their absence had already hovered in the first instance in 2019 where the pilots, who claim their innocence, had been sentenced to six years in prison, after having fled the Dominican Republic where they had also received a 20-year prison sentence.