Attempted murder in Calvi: Abdel Boucha tried at Haute-Corse assizes
A 26-year-old man has been appearing since Monday before the Haute-Corse assize court for stabbing a Calvi shopkeeper in August 2023. He faces a sentence of life imprisonment.
Trial at assize court: six knife wounds in Calvi night
Abdel Boucha, 26, has been tried since Monday, 21 September before the Haute-Corse assize court in Bastia for attempted murder of a Calvi shopkeeper. According to corsematin.com, the defendant — with a shaved head and black sports jacket — speaks in a slow, halting voice from the dock, continually repeating the phrase "myself" when referring to himself.
"I have been in prison for 36 months for facts that 'myself' did not commit," he declared at the opening of the hearing.
The facts: a brawl near the citadel
The facts date back to the night of 8 to 9 August 2023, around 1:30 a.m., near Calvi's citadel. Gendarmes were called following a brawl involving three people. The victim, Marius Mangion, indicated during his hearing that he had been accosted by Abdel Boucha as he was heading to a snack bar to buy a bite to eat. Boucha allegedly wanted to remind him of a dispute between them from a few years previously.
The argument escalated into a fight. Marius Mangion was wounded by several knife blows and transported to Calvi hospital in a "very concerning condition". Doctors found six lesions "in vital regions": the cervical area, the thorax, the wrist and the abdomen.
The investigation leads to the Boucha family home
Investigators found traces of blood near the car park at the foot of the citadel. "The trail of drops led to the doorstep of the Boucha family home," explained the investigation director, heard via videoconference. Inside the property, an Opinel knife bearing traces of blood was discovered.
Abdel Boucha and a second man, Ilyas Semia, were identified through video surveillance and witness statements collected. Both were charged with attempted murder and remanded in custody. Following the investigation, Ilyas Semia benefited from a ruling of no case to answer and was released in September 2023.
A defendant tried in a state of legal recidivism
Abdel Boucha is tried in a state of legal recidivism: he had been sentenced to one year's imprisonment for drug trafficking in 2021. On this ground, he faces a sentence of life imprisonment.
Me Cynthia Costa-Sigrist represents Marius Mangion, the injured party. Abdel Boucha's defence is handled by Me Jean-Pierre Ribaut-Pasqualini.
Contradictory statements at the bar
Before the court, as during the investigation, the defendant's position has continually varied. At the beginning of the hearing, he first acknowledged the facts — "Myself acknowledges the facts" — before retracting at the end of a long, scarcely intelligible monologue.
"Myself is extremely annoyed at present because of the fact of being charged in such a matter. Myself does not wish to be linked to matters like this which seem ridiculous to me. From start to finish, they played on my behaviour. They made sure this all happened. Perhaps the victim in my matter is aware. They made me leave my home, they brought me to such a place," he declared.
The president of the court, sitting alongside professional judges and jurors drawn from civil society, set out the sequence of facts as they emerged from the investigation file.
The hearing is to continue on Tuesday, notably around a psychological assessment of the defendant, which could provide further elements on the meaning of his contradictory statements.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)