Crépol case: eleven accused sent to assizes for racially-motivated murder
Eleven young men are sent to the assizes court for the murder of Thomas Perotto, 16, killed in Crépol in November 2023. The aggravated racist nature of the crime is upheld.
Crépol murder: eleven charged before the Drôme assizes court
Nearly three years after the death of Thomas Perotto, a 16-year-old rugby player killed during the night of 18 to 19 November 2023 at the winter ball in the Drôme village of Crépol, eleven young men have been sent to the assizes court for murder aggravated by racism directed against "the white race and the French nation", reports france24.com.
A twelfth accused is sent to trial for voluntary violence with a weapon. One of the eleven principal accused was a minor at the time of the facts — he was 17 years old — so the investigating judges requested that the entire group be tried by the Drôme juvenile assizes court, according to their conclusions consulted by Agence France-Presse.
The aggravating circumstance of racism at the heart of the debate
The prosecutor had opposed the addition of the aggravating circumstance of "objective discrimination", considering the testimonies in this regard "minority", "imprecise" and "contradictory". The investigating judges nevertheless rejected this position, relying on statements from 19 "direct" witnesses who reported hostile remarks directed at white people in the hours immediately following the facts — this time frame reducing, according to them, the risk of collusion between witnesses.
Among the phrases cited are notably: "we are here to stab white people and kill French people" or again "fucking French bastard".
To justify the collective indictment of the eleven accused, the magistrates retained the legal concept of "single scene", which allows a crime to be attributed to all members of a group as long as they all took part in the violence. Due to a "code of silence", investigators were unable to establish which of them struck the fatal blow.
Appeal announced by defence, trial not expected before end of 2027
Two defence lawyers announced their intention to appeal the committal order, contesting the charges. The trial should therefore not take place before the end of 2027, or even early 2028. In the meantime, seven accused remain in pre-trial detention, one is under house arrest and four are under judicial supervision.
Of the fourteen young men initially placed under investigation — all for murder and attempted murder in organised bands — two benefited from a discharge.
Mes Seydi Ba and Diala Al-Shaman, who represent one of the accused, contested the logic retained: "How can our client be charged with murder aggravated by a circumstance of racism when neither the fatal blow nor any racist remarks are personally attributed to him?" They added: "We contest this logic of collective imputation: everyone must answer for their own acts, and nothing else."
Me Denis Dreyfus, who represents several victims, said by contrast that he was "very satisfied" that the aggravating circumstance was upheld. He told Agence France-Presse that this qualification would help his clients approach the trial "with greater serenity", after "the hyper-mediatisation and instrumentalisation of this case".
Summary of facts and political reactions
On the night of 18 to 19 November 2023, young people from the Monnaie district in Romans-sur-Isère confronted a group of young people from Crépol following the village ball. Knives had been drawn; four people had been seriously injured. Thomas Perotto died during transport to hospital.
The case had stirred strong emotion in the media and the political sphere. The right and far-right had seized upon it to denounce racism against white people in the suburbs. A far-right demonstration, with the appearance of a punitive expedition, had taken place in the Monnaie district shortly after the tragedy.
The Mayor of Romans-sur-Isère from the LR party, Marie-Hélène Thoraval, welcomed Friday the judges' decision to uphold "the aggravating circumstance of anti-white and anti-French racism". "Confronting reality is necessary!", she wrote on X. The head of LR deputies Laurent Wauquiez echoed the same view on the same social network, maintaining that "for too long, some preferred to look away".
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)