Four supporters of the Bastia football club appeared on Tuesday before the court of the prefecture of Haute-Corse, five years after the discovery in their business of “explosive petanque balls”. One was released, two received two years in prison, while a 10-month prison sentence was pronounced against the fourth.
The four individuals were part of the procession during a demonstration in support of Maxime Beux, this Corsican supporter stricken in the Marne on February 13, 2016 during clashes on the sidelines of the Ligue 1 match between the Stade de Reims and SC Bastia. Maxime Beux was precisely one of the four defendants before the Bastia criminal court.
Prosecuted for refusal to take DNA samples, he was released. A fine of 600 euros including 300 suspended sentence had been requested against him.
Ten pétanque balls filled with powder
During this demonstration of support, on February 20, 2016 in Bastia, the police discovered explosive devices stored in three bags near the Haute-Corse prefecture. In these bags, ten pétanque balls filled with hunting powder and equipped with firing wicks, two loaves of 500 grams of nitram 9, an industrial explosive, and detonators.
The court sentenced to two years in prison the two supporters whose DNA had been found on these bags as well as on clothes and objects “which could be used during urban violence”, in accordance with the requisitions of the public prosecutor of Bastia Arnaud Viornery. They were acquitted of the refusal to take DNA samples.
“Facts that could have caused chaos”
Against the fourth defendant, prosecuted for criminal conspiracy and refusal to take DNA samples, the court handed down a 10-month prison sentence that could be converted into house arrest with an electronic bracelet and a fine of 300 euros for refusal to take the sample. His DNA had been found on a bag containing clothes, next to the bags of explosive devices.
At the hearing on November 2, the prosecutor denounced “facts which could have sowed chaos in the streets of Bastia and killed people”: “Even if time has passed, we must take the measure of the inherent lethal risk to the manufacture of this type of machine “.
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