The video of the attack had circulated widely on social networks. And the images, of incredible violence, had shocked the whole of France and aroused the indignant reactions of Emmanuel Macron or Antoine Griezmann. Punches, kicks, hammer blows. On the evening of January 15, 2021, Yuriy S., a college student who was about to celebrate his 15th birthday, was beaten up for several minutes while he was with friends on the Beaugrenelle slab, in the 15th arrondissement. from Paris. Seriously injured, his vital prognosis was then engaged for ten days. A dozen teenagers were arrested and indicted two weeks after the attack. Then last October, the two cosaisis investigating judges sent to trial 13 young men, aged 14 to 18 at the time of the events, including six for attempted murder.
Two hearings should be held: a first before the assize court for minors, for the nine oldest defendants, another before the juvenile court, ruling in criminal matters for the four youngest. But as revealed Le Parisian, several defense attorneys appealed the arraignment order. A hearing should therefore be held soon before the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal. According to our information, the date has not yet been set.
“It seems absurd to us”
The young person represented by Mes Caroline Girard and Marianne Abgrall was sent back to the Assize Court for “participation in a criminal association with a view to committing an offense punishable by ten years’ imprisonment”. One of his friends had actually arranged to meet him that evening, at Beaugrenelle. The teenager, then 16 years old, had made the trip with crutches to “defend himself”, he explained during the investigation. But when he arrived, the firefighters were already there. He then received a call “telling him that it was over” and that he had to leave. Exonerated by the other suspects, he had been placed under the status of assisted witness.
“It seems absurd to us to refer a young person, who was 16 at the time of the events, to an assize court when he was not on the slab, when he had not consulted with the others” , explains to 20 minutes Mr Girard. The lawyer wonders about the legality of this decision, “because one cannot be referred to an assize court for acts that are not criminal”.
“There was never any homicidal intent”
“My client completely denies the facts which are not, as far as he is concerned, factually established”, indicates for his part Me Frédéric Landon, whose client, who was 15 years old at the time of the facts, is referred to the juvenile court. for “complicity in an assassination attempt”. Justice accuses him of having warned his friends of the presence, in the neighborhood, of other young people from a rival gang. On the other hand, the exploitation of the images of the surveillance cameras confirmed that he did not strike the victim.
“It’s an aberration”, continues the Versailles lawyer. “We would have to be able to demonstrate that he provided aid or assistance to people who intended to harm the life of the victim, when there was no prior intention. In reality, it’s a brawl of a certain gravity, but there was never any homicidal intent on the part of anyone in this case. Also, my client was not there. At worst, he may have warned some of the youngsters he knew about the arrival of another gang, but that was it. I don’t see how it can be referred to a trial court. »
“A context of rivalry between young individuals”
In their indictment order, seen by 20 minutesthe investigating judges believe that “the facts are part of a context of rivalry between young individuals, residents of the 15th arrondissement of Paris, forming the RD4 band on the one hand, and that of the Vanves plateau on the other hand” .
“It is established that Yuriy’s attack (…) was an act of revenge in response to the attack suffered” five days earlier by the half-brother and cousin of two of the defendants, according to the magistrates, which recall that the victim had a screwdriver in his pocket. Yuriy had asked witnesses who had come to help him to remove it and hide it in a flower box.