Six Algerian nationals will appear in Paris in December for aggravated human trafficking, suspected of having, near the Eiffel Tower, initiated the use of psychotropic drugs by unaccompanied foreign minors to better encourage them to steal.
The six men, aged 23 to 39, will also appear for trafficking in narcotics, psychotropic drugs and concealment of theft, AFP learned this Tuesday from a source close to the case. A seventh will be tried for trafficking in psychotropic drugs and concealment of theft from March to mid-June 2022, but not for trafficking.
Thefts committed under duress and chemical influence
This trial, which will be held at the Paris Criminal Court on the afternoons of December 14, 15, 19 and 20, is “important”, reacted Guillaume Lardanchet, director of the Hors La Rue association, which identifies and supports children and foreign adolescents in danger.
“These kids are not cherubs, but they are victims. And we do not fight effectively against disturbances to public order if we repress the victims. We must protect them, by allowing them access to their rights, to child protection homes…” continued Guillaume Lardanchet.
“If these minors commit crimes, it is under duress and under chemical influence. This prism is the right one: we must focus on those who constrain and obstruct actions to protect these children. They are the dangerous offenders and not the other way around,” commented Me Céline Astolfe, lawyer for the association.
“Wandering paths”
“Until now, investigations were limited to arresting minors. For once, justice reaches back to the people who exploit these minors,” also estimated Kathleen Taieb, a lawyer accustomed to trafficking cases, who is defending a child in this case. This trial should “help change the way society views this phenomenon, but also the minors themselves, who do not consider themselves victims,” she hopes.
The referral order, issued on November 10, followed the prosecution’s requisitions, highlighting the “wandering journey” of several dozen children, including 17 identified by investigators and aged between 8 and 16. A “journey” going from their “crossing the Mediterranean” from Morocco or Algeria to the Eiffel Tower.
There, on the Trocadéro square, the six adults aged 23 to 39 are accused of having introduced minors to psychotropic drugs “for free, initially”, details the investigating judge.
Rivotril and Lyrica
“They told me: ‘Here, take this, it will do you good’,” says a 10-year-old Moroccan, cited in the order. “I took half a tablet of Rivotril and then I kept going, going, going.” Doses that “push him to steal” from tourists “and even to be violent”.
The combination of the psychotropic drugs Rivotril and Lyrica causes “a total dissociation of the body and mind of young consumers”, underlines the magistrate, who sees it as a “recruitment operation” of adults to create “a strong dependence” of children on their regard, in order to “reap a financial benefit”.
The investigations, based in particular on physical surveillance, showed that the Trocadéro square was “divided” between bonneteau players, street vendors and minor thieves. The latter occupied “the central stairs”, under the eye of the adults “slightly behind”. The adults are accused of having obtained their supplies of psychotropic drugs in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis) and in the north of the capital, particularly in Barbès. When contacted, the defense lawyers did not respond immediately.