Up to two years in prison were imposed on Friday on seven suspected ultra-right activists accused of racist attacks in Lyon during the African Cup of Nations football in 2019.
Five of the defendants were sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, two of which were suspended, another to one year, of which six months was suspended, and a seventh to one year, suspended.
Aged 22 to 34, the seven men were suspected of having participated in attacks on the evening of July 19, 2019, in the center of Lyon, after Algeria’s victory in the CAN final. A dozen families suffered this violence, mainly in the car, according to the survey.
” A nightmare “
They were identified among a group of around thirty people, incited by the ultra-right movement to attack supporters of Algeria. Several were armed with iron bars and baseball bats.
“They were (supposedly) all innocent but they are all convicted, it is a reason for satisfaction”, commented a lawyer for the civil parties, Bertrand Sayn. His client Kenza welcomed the judgment, still traumatized by this evening in July 2019. “It was horrible. They smashed the car, the little ones were crying behind, my mother was paralyzed, my brother was bleeding from the broken glass in the window, it will be very hard to forget”.
At the June 16 hearing, several mothers had delivered chilling accounts of the unleashing of violence. Afeffe B., 42, told how an individual with an armband made him believe in a police check, before the group rushed to his car, in which three friends had taken place. “They were waiting for their prey,” she explained. Windshield and glass exploded, racist insults, “I had the impression of living a nightmare, a killing”.
“Pretty fair decision”
For their part, the defendants had claimed for the most part not to be part of “any group” and denied the violence. Some wore tattoos with identity references, others were members of a group of ultras from Olympique Lyonnais. Sentences of up to five years’ imprisonment, two of which were suspended and probation, had been requested.
“It’s a fairly fair decision in its analysis, but it is too early to know if we are appealing”, reacted Me Jean-François Barre, lawyer for one of the defendants. In addition to compensation of 500 to 2,000 euros to be paid jointly to the civil parties, most of the defendants were sentenced to a five-year ban on visiting the 2nd and 5th arrondissements of Lyon, claimed bastions of the local ultra-right.