Two minors under the age of 16 were examined in the investigation into the mid-July homophobic assault in Rogliano, Upper Corsica.
The two minors, originally from Cap Corse, were examined by the children’s judge, the first for “homophobic public insults” and the second for “aggravated violence and homophobic public insults,” said Arnaud Viornery, Public Prosecutor in Bastia. “My client denies the facts,” insisted Anna-Livia Guerrini, the first minor’s lawyer, believing that “in this case, early media coverage is a means of pressure that must be avoided.”
Two other adults had been questioned in police custody but were released without any charges being brought against them.
Homophobic insults and violence
This case concerns violence committed on the night of July 14 to 15 during a party in a bar in Macinaggio, in the marina of Rogliano. The investigation was opened for “voluntary violence with total interruption of work less than or equal to 8 days in meetings and because of the sexual orientation of the victims”.
According to the public prosecutor of Bastia, a couple of men had suffered homophobic insults then violence “with kicks and punches on the part of several individuals” after having witnessed, in the company of three other people, a fire fireworks in this town popular with tourists. They were allegedly the target of this violence shortly after midnight, after spending the evening in a bar. A third person was also injured. One of the victims used to stay in this commune regularly.
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The photo of the couple, swollen faces, published on social networks, had aroused many reactions of support in the island, from the prefect of Haute-Corse through the League of Human Rights. On Twitter, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin had given his “total support to the two victims” of this “violent homophobic aggression”, affirming that “these infamous acts (should) not go unpunished”.
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