The prosecutor of Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) wanted to take stock this Tuesday of the investigation into the death of Jérémy Cohen. This 30-year-old of the Jewish faith died on February 17 after being hit the previous evening by a tram.
The violence that preceded the death of Jeremy Cohen, a 30-year-old Jewish man hit by a tram on February 16, has no “discriminatory grounds“at this stage of the investigation, declared this Tuesday the prosecutor of Bobigny Éric Mathais during a press conference.
“There is currently no evidence to establish with certainty whether or not the victim was wearing a yarmulke at the time of the violence.“, he added.
“Of course, any element making it possible to establish a discriminatory reason for this scene of violence, in particular anti-Semitic, will give rise to an aggravation of the criminal qualification retained.“, however, said the prosecutor explaining that “many investigations remain to be carried out to establish the exact circumstances of the events preceding the accident“.
Video on social networks, tweet, and presidential election in a few days, the public prosecutor returned to the various investigations following the death of Jérémy Cohen, on February 17.
A first investigation was first opened for manslaughter, for what was then akin to a fatal traffic accident. “Investigations had been carried out to determine the possible responsibility of the tram driver“, Explain Eric Mathais.
The investigation had been entrusted to the Bobigny police station and had been closed without further action. But “quickly, the elements collected made it possible to understand that, a few moments before the accident, the victim had been subjected to violence“, notes the prosecution. Indeed “on March 10, new elements were sent to the Bobigny police station, in this case a video filmed by a witness“, continues the prosecutor.
In this video widely shared on social networks, we see Jérémy Cohen surrounded by about fifteen individuals who take him to task and mistreat him on several occasions. Trying to escape his assailants, he runs on the tram tracks of the T1 line, as a train approaches. She hits him. Victim of cardio-respiratory arrest and head trauma, Jérémy Cohen died shortly after midnight in hospital.
A second investigation was therefore opened for intentional violence in a meeting. The Bobigny prosecutor’s office announced that it had opened a judicial investigation on March 29 for intentional violence resulting in death without intention to give it, i.e. the criminal qualification “the highest conceivable at this stage of the investigations“.
The departmental service of the judicial police (SDPJ) of Seine-Saint-Denis is in charge of the investigation under the authority of an investigating judge.
Earlier in the day, Jérémy Cohen’s father was cautious about the potentially anti-Semitic nature of his son’s attack: “Maybe it’s one of the determining factors (of aggression, editor’s note). Maybe he was wearing his yarmulke and it bothered people who couldn’t stand him having it.“, wonders, with caution, the father of Jérémy. But, he warns, “to determine, it is necessary to check“. “We asked our lawyer to issue, at the request of our family, the hypothesis of the anti-Semitic act (…) Jérémy used to have his white yarmulke, but not necessarily for religious reasons“, he explains.
“Qjustice be done”, reacted the lawyer of the Cohen family, Me Franck Serfati, “that the identifiable individuals who have not yet been apprehended can be heard. That we can understand why they attacked Jérémy. be returned to the jurisdiction of the judgment, that is to say the court of assizes to answer for their misdeed.
This Tuesday, the prosecutor explained that “many investigations remain to be carried out to establish the exact circumstances of the events preceding the accident“including technical investigations on the video”to improve its quality and refine its analysis“.
Eric Mathais “invites anyone with information relevant to the investigation to contact the police“.
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