Throwing cobblestones or excrement, the acts of violence of “kids” without history judged in Lyon

Behind the glass of the defendants’ box, Jérôme, a 42-year-old burly man dressed in black, nods his head when he reads the facts, sometimes displaying a sly smile when he is reminded that he is on trial for having thrown “two jars filled of feces” on plainclothes BAC police officers, during the May Day demonstration in Lyon. Only, justice does not laugh. Especially when one of the agents in question had his tibia fractured after trying to challenge the rebel who was a little too agitated. In the end, he will receive a ten-month suspended prison sentence and a ban on participating in any demonstration for two years. This is the heaviest sentence pronounced on Wednesday by the Lyon Criminal Court.

At the end of a marathon hearing day, eight people marched to the bar for acts of violence committed against the police two days earlier. And not for having ransacked the city or looted several signs. All have one thing in common: a clean criminal record and uneventful profiles. “They are kids, students. We are not in the fantasy of the black bloc that the prosecution or the police want to project onto the imagination of a far left demonstrator, ”sums up lawyer Olivier Forray.

“I lost my temper”

Pauline, 25, dressed in high-waisted jeans and a dark sailor top, is “not a delinquent”, underlines her advice. “She is simply a citizen who expresses her opinion”, he supports, a student who is about to win a “Pharmacy doctorate”. The young woman, “posted in the front line of the procession”, would have thrown “cobblestones” on the columns of the police. But for his lawyer, no proof. “The investigation was botched. We rely solely on the testimony of a CRS who says he recognized her. There is no video to charge him, ”he pleads. The case will be adjourned to September 7.

Arms crossed around the waist, head held high, Jérôme, who works for a mutual insurance company in Villeurbanne, assumes his gesture. The jars of excrement, he “found them in a garbage bag, in the street”. So he “took advantage of it” because he had just received “a tear gas projectile in the face”, he shows. “I wanted to tell them to be careful but they said ‘Get out of here.’ At the time, it pissed me off, I lost my temper. The man says he is “sorry” but his face, a bit mocking, fails to convince the court.

A warning “

Abdouad, a 24-year-old Algerian without papers, was not in the procession. Only, he was in Place Bellecour at the end of the course and could not help throwing “pieces of concrete blocks” at the CRS, nor insulting them with all the names of possible birds, according to the prosecution. “Cigarette seller Place Dupont”, the young man defends himself, helped by an interpreter. But the forces of order are formal. An orange t-shirt, and jogging flocked with fluorescent youth stripes, you can’t be mistaken. Impossible to confuse him with anyone else. “We are in the delinquency of opportunity with a defendant who comes to mingle with the black blocks to commit theft and recover what he could”, estimates Laurent Bohé, lawyer for the police. The penalty falls. Seven months suspended prison sentence, “a warning”. With his hands, Abdouad embraces the sky. Relieved, obviously.

Alexandre, 28, was also betrayed by his clothes. A thick brown and white checkered shirt that “protruded from his black jacket”. He is suspected of having seriously injured a policeman in the thigh with a cobblestone. “It’s totally false,” replies the cognitive science student, barely managing to unclench his teeth. His attire on the day of the events raises questions. A “black raincoat”, a cap, “a black muffler” … The perfect panoply of black bloc, insinuates the court. His attitude in police custody is also intriguing. When investigators asked him for his phone to check that it did not contain compromising videos, the boy voluntarily blocked it by typing several incorrect codes. In the end, eight months in prison suspended.

The bearded Esteban, 22, “tested at high potential”, is one of the only ones to recognize the facts of which he is accused: having thrown a tear gas capsule cap without reaching his target. “It’s stupidity, pleads the one who wishes to become a specialized educator. It’s mostly anger because I saw my friend being arrested. I did not think, I launched this projectile bell, ”he admits. Depicted as “devoted to others” and “committed against injustice”, the sturdy guy makes amends. His sentence will be more lenient: three months suspended.

“We have no element, no proof”

Then come Sara and Eve, the “two friends” first-year law students who probably didn’t expect to find themselves on the other side of the bar. Their faults? Throwing “balloons filled with excrement or paint at the police”. At the statement of the facts, the second struggles to hide her desire to laugh, addressing a few grimaces to her comrades who came to support her in the room.

She admits “having a closeness of thought with certain ideas of the black blocks” but “does not condone violence”. Yes, she changed to dress in black to “blend into the unitary block” but did not throw any projectiles. “It had been ten minutes since we had just arrived. We got gassed, I couldn’t breathe. We got out of the procession to get into a nearby street. We landed against a wall and crouched down to clean our eyes, supports Sara. That’s where we were arrested but nothing was done. “The police did not find any equipment in their bags, Eve recalls with a small smile which she will part with a few hours later. The judgment is rendered: four months suspended prison sentence for the two friends with an exemplary school career. Completely stunned, the young woman wipes, this time, a few discreet tears.

“We have just burnt their professional future”, loose Olivier Fourray, furious, at the exit of the hearing, describing the sentences imposed as “totally disproportionate to the alleged facts”. “We have no element, no proof, we judge the case on the peremptory assertion of a police officer. It is based on bits of PV, copy-paste that officials do in a hurry. For them, it is an elucidated procedure, they filled in the statistics and gave satisfaction to the Ministry of the Interior. Convicting someone on this simple statement is damaging to the functioning of the judiciary, ”he concludes.

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