This Wednesday, October 9, 2024, three men aged around twenty were tried before the Carcassonne criminal court to answer in particular for violent extortion having led to a total interruption of work not exceeding eight days, to the prejudice of a drug addict. The facts date back to August 16, 2023 in Bram.
Wednesday August 16, 2023, it was around 4 p.m. that the gendarmes came across the victim on the side of the road, between Carcassonne and Castelnaudary. The man is injured and very shocked. When he can be heard, he will indicate having been hit and threatened by two men, for a debt of €2,000. The victim of an ambush, he was allegedly put in the trunk of a car and driven to an isolated area. Hit and threatened with a gun to the head and a knife to the throat, he was allegedly stripped naked and forced to walk on all fours. This scene of violence takes place in an isolated field, behind the Saint-Exupéry stadium in Bram.
On the genesis, we learn that the drug addict victim had initially contacted a supplier on Snapchat, for the purchase of €2,000 of cocaine payable in two installments. Far too much for someone who can’t afford to pay the bill. Kelly the supplier, better known under the nickname “Zola 930” on Snapchat, will then want to get his money back. With threats and intimidation via Snapchat. The main person concerned does not respond… Esteban then arrives, to whom the supplier asked to arrange a meeting with his deadbeat, under the pretext of purchasing cannabis… The famous good plan then turned into a nightmare . From the judicial investigation which will follow, the judge will ultimately not retain the kidnapping and violence at gunpoint. Only the acts of “extortion with violence leading to a total interruption of work not exceeding eight days (five days of ITT in this case)” will be retained for two suspects. The third being prosecuted for complicity in the same offense.
I only gave two slaps, maybe a kick.
This Wednesday, October 9, 2024, it is in the context that Kelly, 24, arrived before the Carcassonne court. He has been in pre-trial detention since August 25, 2023. At his side is Esteban, aged 21. Just like Hamza, absent and unrepresented today, he had been placed under judicial supervision. All three face ten years in prison. Questioned about the facts, Kelly delivered a seventh version which did not convince the court. He only put “two slaps, maybe a kick”. He is the most involved, but does not understand what he is accused of. Esteban, who organized the meeting, explains that he did it at Kelly’s request, for €300. Hamza, upon reading his statements, indicated that he drove Kelly to his appointment and remained in the car. This is not what emerges from the various testimonies…
In the interests of the victim, Me Laurence Cormouls-Houlès explained that his client had seen himself die: “He thought it was the end, before he was thrown into a ditch. He’s still suffering from it. It took extreme fear for him to pee on himself!” Medical expertise was requested, as well as medical expertise. At the public prosecutor’s office, “despite weaknesses in this matter”four years in prison were required, including one year with a two-year probationary suspension, against Kelly. One year in prison for Hamza, and eighteen months in prison with a probationary suspension for Esteban. In Esteban’s defense, Me Marion Blondeau pleaded for acquittal, “lack of intentional element on the part of my client”. For Kelly, Me Béatrice Soler-Riu pleaded for a mixed sentence. In the end, the court followed the prosecution’s requisitions, but attached Estaban’s sentence to a simple suspension.
