Undocumented Moroccan Teens Face Trial for Car Break-In Spree in Perpignan

The two Moroccan illegal immigrants had just spent a night in jail. The police arrested them on Sunday after they had broken the windows of 26 cars. These young men, who had recently arrived illegally in France, intended to burglarize these cars. One of them had a pellet gun.

They do not hold any identity documents. They just gave the investigators a name, a date of birth and a nationality. When they appeared immediately before the Perpignan court, they gave different dates of birth than the ones they had previously communicated.

The president asks Mohamed to give him his date of birth: "October 2003" "you had said 2002..." "No, no, 2003." He asks the same question to Aymed: "April 2003." "You had said February..." "My client is therefore a minor and cannot be tried by the adult jurisdiction," indicate the two lawyers, thus highlighting the same nullity of procedure.

"They have always declared, including before the judge of liberties and detentions, to be of legal age. They think that by claiming to be minors they will be tried by the juvenile judge and will be able to remain in France. Their previous statements leave no doubt about their majority," reacts the prosecutor. "We are touching on a matter of public order. The court does not have the means to know their true age and must therefore declare itself incompetent," he insists.

It is now up to the administration to contact the Moroccan consulate to determine the true identity and age of the defendants.