Ahmed Bakiri was sentenced Thursday evening for the murder of Mohamed Benameur and the attempted murder of his brother Lahcène Benameur, targeted on March 10, 2016 at the Saint-Jean clinic in Montpellier, in the last act of a rivalry of more than thirty years between these two families of harkis from Lodève.
“I am the culprit. I hope that after what I have done, it will be the end. That our descendants and our parents can grow up in peace. I have prepared myself, I know that I will go detention. It’s normal.”
On the last day of his trial for murder and attempted murder, before the Assize Court of Hérault, Ahmed Bakiri, 52, once again asked forgiveness from the Benameur family, of which he bloodied two members, on 10 March 2016, in the parking lot of the Saint-Jean clinic in Montpellier.
Two deaths in 26 years
A pardon, and a desire to put an end to this rivalry between these two Harkie families which from Lodève to Montpellier have killed two people in 26 years. “Twenty-six years of anger and hatred smoldering under the embers” recalls Me Villa, civil party for the daughter of Mohamed Benameur, whom Ahmed Bakiri killed with two bullets, including one in the head, as a coup de grace.
16-year-old son committed suicide
Mohamed’s son, Jaffar, committed suicide at age 16 last summer by jumping off a cliff. “Her daughter is not looking for revenge. She is resilient and dignified.”
A dignity displayed by all, like Ahmed Bakiri, qualified by the president “ideal defendant”. And Me Edouard Martial, civil party for Lahcène Benameur, Mohamed’s brother, who miraculously survived the 11.43 bullet that pierced him, is ironic.
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At the assizes of the Hérault, the harkie tragedy of Lodève, between ancient drama and annealed hatred
“Ahmed Bakiri succeeded in his trial. It’s extraordinary. He managed to throw a black veil over all the explanations we were waiting for” recalling that the accused affirms that he no longer remembers his acting out, and that the psychiatrists consider that his discernment was then altered, which limits the penalty incurred to 20 years.
I flew from Guy Lux’s bag
“QWhen is this cycle of hate and death going to end? wonders in turn Me Jean-Robert Phung. “For there to be peace, there must be justice” and that the penalty “Take part in breaking the curse, so that there is no more death, because Guy Lux’s satchel was stolen thirty years ago.” This anecdote would be the starting point for the hostility between Kader Bakiri and Mohamed Benameur, both of whom have since died.
“We are facing two crimes”
“In this case, we have one dead and one left for dead, we are facing two crimes, you cannot go below twenty years” considers the Advocate General, who also requests a ten-year socio-judicial follow-up.
“You are going to put in the balance pan the pain and the coldness of this crime, and in the other Ahmed Bakiri, with his repentance and his remorse” urges Me Jean-Marc Darrigade, in defense.
Three hours of deliberation
“He is aware of the harm he has done. And more than anything he knows what it is to be a victim” insists on me Luc Abratkiewicz who reminds us: “There are no winners here, there are only losers.”
Three hours of deliberation, twenty years of criminal imprisonment, ten years of safety. Ahmed Bakiri collects, with a skull smile, towards his relatives before joining the police. Not a word in the room, yet full since Monday: the last act of this senseless rivalry is perhaps finally over.
