“My brother Berat, like me, has never had any problems with the law. He’s a respected guy in the neighborhood. We were born in France and work as a family, every day, in a café or restaurant. What happened this Saturday September 23 is terrible,” confides Isate, in shock. “Five people, two of them wearing helmets and the other three masked and with hoods, burst onto the terrace of our café. My older brother, who was chatting with customers, didn’t see them arriving right away. They surrounded the establishment. Berat, who worked in security, had the good instinct to pull them away to chat. They went to the intersection with rue René-Cassin, where there were shots fired. My brother doesn’t have a gun and I guess it was by grabbing one of them that he disarmed him. It’s true that two of these five people were injured but it was my brother who called the police to warn them of what had just happened. » As proof, Isate shows extracts from the video surveillance of his café. The scene, of which we only see the arrival of the five men dressed entirely in black and their faces hidden, is chilling. The rest of the brawl escapes the camera.
“A feeling of injustice”
“I showed this video to the police,” adds Isate. “I also contacted the regulars who were on the terrace at that time to provide testimony to the courts. I want to ensure that the truth is established and that my brother is quickly released from prison. Rumors in the neighborhood say that these guys were coming to pick someone up from the cafe. But, in the meantime, it is my brother who is in prison and I want to do everything possible to get him out as quickly as possible. For us, it is unfair that he is in prison when it is these five people who came to our establishment to fight. » Indicted on Monday September 25 evening, the suspect was placed in pre-trial detention. A judicial investigation is opened for attempted murder, possession and carrying of a category B weapon and violence against X.
“Let it go back to the way it was before”
The next day around 5 a.m., bursts of gunfire woke up residents living on this street in Thionville. Like reprisals, Isate’s café and the grill, owned by his sister-in-law and his brother, are targeted by around twenty shots from an automatic rifle, obviously a Kalashnikov. A good hundred meters apart, the two establishments are a few steps from the scene of the first shooting. “The café was reopened four or five days later. There was no major damage. The regulars want it to go back to how it was before. However, the restaurant has not yet been able to reopen. »
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