Crépol murder: four defence lawyers appeal against racism charge
Eleven accused are referred to assize court for the murder of Thomas Perotto with the aggravating circumstance of racism. Four lawyers are contesting this qualification.
Appeal against the aggravating circumstance of racism in the Crépol case
Four defence lawyers have announced their intention to contest the committal order received Friday morning in the case of the murder of Thomas Perotto, 16, killed during a village party at Crépol in the Drôme, in the night of 18 to 19 November 2023. According to BFM TV, the lawyers are Me Romaric Chateau, Me Guillaume Fort, Me Bilel Hakkar and Me Élise Rey-Jacquot.
The committal order refers eleven accused persons to assize court for murder and attempted murder, with the aggravating circumstance of racism against "the white race and the French nation". A twelfth accused is referred for voluntary violence.
"Incomprehensible" for the defence
Me Guillaume Fort, reached by BFM TV, describes the order as a "surprise" and "incomprehensible". He recalls that the investigating magistrates had themselves dismissed this aggravating circumstance at the beginning of the investigation. "There is not the slightest element that would enable this aggravating circumstance of racism to be supported," he states.
Me Romaric Chateau agrees: "There is no racist motive. The offences charged against the different accused were not committed because the persons were white or French." According to him, what is debated is whether the acts of violence or the murder were "accompanied or followed by racist insults".
The question of collective responsibility
Me Chateau also raises a fundamental question about the collective attribution of the facts: "One can wonder whether one can hold all responsible for the act committed by one person in delivering a knife blow." The investigation has indeed not made it possible to identify with precision the perpetrator of the knife blows that led to the death of Thomas Perotto. All eleven accused are nevertheless being prosecuted for murder and attempted murder.
Me Fort is categorical: "This committal to assize court should not be upheld. It is clear that we are going to appeal this order which appears to me to be devoid of any foundation."
A hearing to come before the Grenoble court of appeal
An appeal against the committal order will lead to a hearing in closed session before the chamber of instruction of the Grenoble court of appeal. The magistrates will have to rule again on the qualifications retained, notably the one relating to racism "against the white race or the French nation", before the opening of the trial at assize court.
The Valence public prosecutor's office, contacted by BFM TV regarding a possible appeal on its part, had not yet responded to the channel's requests at the time of publication.
Source: BFM TV