Through David Leduc
Published on
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Defense and civil parties agreed on one point: the case is “media”. And for good reason, in Ivry-sur-Seine, the assault of two elected officials of the City, at the end of a handball match last October had caused a stir. The mayor of Ivry-sur-Seine, Philippe Bouyssou (PCF), called for a support march and denounced the violence of the facts. This Thursday, January 6, 2022, took place the trial of two individuals accused of having participated in the attacks, at the court of Créteil (Val-de-Marne).
Two men tried for stabbing an elected official#IvrysurSeine #ValdeMarne https://t.co/L0skVEtRKk via @actufr
– News Val-de-Marne (@ actufr94) January 5, 2022
“Put a stab in the leg”
Go back. It is a little after 10 p.m. when Boukary Gassama and Ghaïs Bertout-Ourabah, two elected officials from Ivry-sur-Seine, leave the Delaune gymnasium where a meeting of the Ivry handball club has just taken place. They are then accompanied by a third person when several individuals, “between 6 and 8 hooded people”, come to their approach to do battle. Boukary Gassama seems to be recognized by his attackers: he is violently hit on the head with a glass bottle, falls and is beaten on the ground. He later told investigators that he had heard: “stab him in the leg.” He will receive three.
For his part, Ghaïs Bertout-Ourabah also received several shots from the bottle to the head. The two elected officials are hospitalized following the assault and respectively obtain 15 days of work interruption (ITT) for one, 2 days for the other.
#ValdeMarne – Knife attack of elected officials #IvrysurSeine : an event organized on Saturday https://t.co/GcHSae6atF via @actufr
– News Val-de-Marne (@ actufr94) October 12, 2021
A month later, at the end of November 2021, the two defendants present in court on Thursday were arrested. One of them was confused by his DNA (his blood was found near a staircase, 300 meters from the gymnasium), the other was identified by one of the victims by his voice.
“The fights are daily”
Behind the trial, it is the issue of violence between cities of Ivry that was discussed with the defendants. The defense indicated that the victims believe that the aggression of Boukary Gassama took place in a context of tensions between the cities of Voltaire and Amédée-Huon. “This case could have taken a completely different turn, that of an attempted murder. In Ivry-sur-Seine, fights are daily, “lamented the lawyer of elected officials, absent at the hearing. “It is a file which reflects the settling of scores which plague the city of Ivry-sur-Seine and more broadly the Val-de-Marne”, formulated the prosecutor, Marion Py.
In front of the judge, the two defendants once again denied their involvement in the assault. The individual identified by his blood said “he was injured with a bottle of alcohol” while walking around in a state of intoxication. The 20-year-old laundry worker in a hospital changed his phone SIM card on the evening of the attack and stayed in a hotel room in Fresnes. “I had family problems, with my mother and my grandmother”, justified the young man, pleading for “the coincidence”. His lawyer added: “There is a distance of 300 meters between the scene of the facts and the place where my client’s blood was found. But no one formally identifies my client. A witness mentions a person injured in the hand, of the Maghrebian type. However, my client is not in any way from the Maghreb. There are gray areas in this file ”.
“Nothing to do with this story”
The second defendant is a 26-year-old artist. He is already known to the justice services for kidnapping and forcible confinement for which he was sentenced to two years in prison in 2019. “A youthful error,” he said at the bar this Thursday. The latter denies any participation in the aggression of elected officials, and knowing the victim Boukary Gassama: “I have never seen him, I do not know him. I have nothing to do with this story ”. On the subject of the conflicts between the cities of Huon and Voltaire, he admits “hearing noises from the hallways, which is being said”, but refutes being part of them. “Despite the many witnesses, he is not identified by anyone. All describe aggressors between 16 and 20 years old, with a physical distinction that stands out from the crowd. My client is rather imposing, and was 26 years old at the time of the facts, ”said his defense.
Which earned him to be released, “because of the lingering doubt about his involvement.” As for the first defendant, he was sentenced to three years in prison, including 18 months suspended. He therefore remains in detention.
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