From TikTok "buzz" to the courtroom: The shooter with the burst sentenced to 30 years in prison

After three hours of deliberation, the jurors found the 40-year-old defendant guilty of attempted murder. While the public prosecutor had requested life imprisonment, the court opted for a thirty-year sentence, punishing the violence of the attack that occurred on May 13, 2023. That day, five young people aged 17 to 30 were shot and wounded in the central square of the town, known to host a drug dealing point.

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The trial was marked by the reversal of the defense strategy. While he had claimed responsibility for the shooting throughout the investigation, even boasting on TikTok of having "sprayed without mercy" to avenge the humiliation suffered by his brother, Abdelkrim Bellot proclaimed his innocence at the bar. He tried to attribute the shots to a mysterious acquaintance he met in Luxembourg, a version that did not convince the court in the face of numerous witnesses who formally identified him.

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For the civil parties, this verdict brings a necessary appeasement. The lawyers of the victims hailed a decision "up to the tragedy" and an "important marker" for their clients, some of whom retain irreversible after-effects, like the young Kenzo, now in a wheelchair after being shot in the head. "What is important is that the perpetrator has been convicted," stressed the defense of the victims.

The defendant’s heavy criminal record weighed on the debates. With 38 entries in his criminal record and a life spent largely behind bars, Abdelkrim Bellot embodied an entrenched delinquency. He now has a ten-day deadline to appeal this conviction.