“No criminal record”but also not “reliable excuse”. Prosecutor Nicolas Septe requested prison sentences against three Ajaccio supporters who appeared on Friday August 26 before the Ajaccio criminal court for “aggravated violence” and “extortion with violence” during the ACA-Olympique match in Marseille on June 3. Eighteen months in prison accompanied by a twelve-month suspended sentence and a fine of 1,500 euros were requested against Marc-Antoine C.-E., presented as the leader, and a one-year suspended prison sentence and 1,000 euros in fine against Pablo E. and Anthony G., both “followers”.
Before the kick-off of the final day of Ligue 1, they had entered a box where Kenzo, 8, suffering from brain cancer, and his younger brother were. Landing two punches in the face of the father, Laurent Canlay, while Kenzo was assaulted.
“This file had had a strong media impact, it moved the whole of France because it affected a sick child”recalled the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, pointing out that this “also highlighted the violence in the stadiums, which must not become areas of lawlessness”.
In this sense, Mr. Septe demanded that the court impose a five-year stadium ban on these 20-year-olds, who were not aware of the “seriousness of the facts” that evening in fourteen seconds in box number 2 of the François-Coty stadium.
This lapse of time, captured by video surveillance outside the lodge, shows the virulence and suddenness of the intrusion. The aggression escaped the lens because the dressing room was not equipped with a camera. Regretting not having had access to these images, the defense had requested the dismissal, but the court presided over by Eric Métivier decided to broadcast them during a river hearing of nearly sixteen hours.
“They did a huge bullshit”
At the helm, in sneakers, dark short-sleeved polo shirts and jeans, the three defendants marched to say with more or less conviction their regrets to Kenzo’s family, who, “too fragile still”, according to his counsel, Mᵉ Frédéric Pourrière, was not present on the benches of the civil party.
“If we had known there were children, it would not have happened like this”assures Marc-Antoine C.-E. “1.93m, 93kg”, who rushed into the dressing room with his acolytes because the father “tackled” with an OM jersey whose crest he kissed and had made a “finger of honor”. Intolerable provocation for the young people, who formed a punitive commando ” without thinking “. A few minutes after the bloodshed, social networks were weaving a detestable scenario, that of a sick child who was abused, thrown to the ground and his jersey burned before his eyes. “I regret what we did, but what is difficult is to be accused of what we did not do”grumbled the defendant.
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