Lille Assault Trial Postponed: Three Face Charges in Attack on North African Teen

It is at the request of Me Éric Cattelin-Denu, the lawyer of Rémi F., one of the accused, that the court postponed the case to May 13 next, reports La voix du Nord. He said he had made this request to have time to examine the new prosecutions.

There are indeed two series of offenses being tried, the same source specifies. The Lille public prosecutor has added prosecutions against Rémi F., 32, for direct provocation to an act of terrorism and against Étienne V., 26, a defendant for public provocation to hatred or violence on the grounds of ethnicity, nationality, race or religion. With Guillaume D., 31, the three suspects were only being prosecuted for violence against a 14-year-old girl on January 10, 2018, rue Masséna. The Al Jazeera channel had filmed the scene.

The aggravation of the prosecutions has satisfied the civil party associations. Me Ouadie Elhamamouchi, from the Bobigny bar, made known at the hearing that the Collective against Islamophobia he represents had written to the prosecutor in January. He had been asked to initiate prosecutions directly related to racial hatred.

For these associations, the assault on the teenager would be linked to her Maghrebi ancestry. After the appointment of an administrator and a lawyer, the young girl will be able to join the civil party and attend the hearing.