OM / Incidents of the Commanderie: four leaders of groups of supporters condemned - 22/03/2021Source : https://www.theindianpaper.com/
Accused of having organized or played a major role in the attack on the RLD center on January 30, five leaders of supporters’ groups were tried by the Marseille Criminal Court on Monday. Four were found guilty, with sentences of up to one year in prison, with accommodations. One was released.Almost two months after the incidents at the Commanderie, on January 30, discussions were sometimes tense between the Marseille Criminal Court and some leaders of OM supporters groups on Monday. There were first of all the regrets of certain leaders of associations, in particular Rachid Zeroual, vice-president of the South Winners: “If I had known that this demonstration was going to degenerate, we would never have organized this gathering. wanted it to be done peacefully. Some went crazy when they saw the gates closed. I felt betrayed. ” Zeroual admits to having published a message of mobilization on Facebook. He promises above all to act for 33 years for the good of his association. “I try to make it a group of supporters, not a gang. I feel like an old man watching over the atmosphere at the Vélodrome and life at the local Winners. Never forget our dedication to the kids and the social actions that we carry out. “
SMS from Aldebert and Eyraud to Rachid Zeroual
President Nathalie Marty interrupts him on several occasions, or lectures him: “You are not doing your show”. She reveals two SMS sent by the leaders of the OM to Rachid Zeroual, after the incidents. The first message from Thierry Aldebert, then Mr. Security: “What a shame. You have finally agreed with those who call you hooligans”. The second, by Jacques-Henri Eyraud, then president: “How could you have committed the irreparable? I am told that you were among them!”. Zeroual, who confides in being sick and tired, has another reading of events. “I warned them the day before. The OM knew that we had to disembark, I have text messages that prove it. We arrived, the CRS had disappeared! Everything was organized to get things out of the way.”
Christophe Bourguignon, president of CU 84, is also questioned. The court is surprised by the “dress code” in place: “All dressed in black and hooded, is it normal for a peaceful demonstration?” Asks the president of the court. She specifies that the hard drive of the computer, seized at the Ultras premises during a search, was erased on January 31, the day after the incidents.
Hamza B., also one of the leaders of the Winners, is also criticized for a leadership role. This January 30, he is seen standing on a desk in the RLD center, gesturing in front of Alvaro and Mandanda. Hamza B. admits that he was “revolted and angry”. He explains that OM very often sends Mandanda “as a shield” against OM fans.
MTP treasurer in the sights for distributing smoke bombs
Christophe C., ex-capo of the Winners, straight and strong, assumes, at the bar. “I went to discuss with the chef: André Villas-Boas. I got in front, and fortunately! Because I kept a certain aura towards the other supporters. It’s true, I did it. ‘Idiot. But we give so much for this club, the relationship between OM and its supporters is so strong, that I think I have the right to express our anger when we have to send a message. “
Finally, Mehdi D., treasurer of the MTP association (Marseille Trop Puissant), is in the sights for having distributed about twenty smoke bombs in the heart of the procession and having launched one in the Security PC, when the entrance of the Commandery was forced. We will find his DNA imprint on this smoke, which will force him to confess. It is with him that the requisitions of the deputy prosecutor of the Republic of Marseille will have been the most severe: 9 months firm.
André Ribes, the deputy prosecutor, argues: “In this type of incident, the one who organizes them is more guilty than the one who commits them. Passing his ideas through violence is not possible! You say that he do not confuse thugs and supporters. But it’s not my fault that all these supporters were also thugs! ” He also requires 9 months in prison, 5 of which are suspended for Zeroual and Bourguignon. And ten months suspended for Hamza B. and Christophe C.
OM’s lawyer does not charge the Ultras or the Winners
Previously, the pleadings of the lawyers of the OM, civil party in this case, had also mainly targeted the isolated action of the treasurer of the MTP. Olivier Grimaldi, OM lawyer: “The most serious thing for us is not the Ultras or the Winners, it is the fact that a treasurer of the MTP distributes smoke. It is unacceptable! We spoke about it with the president of the association, she was outraged. If it had been a collective act, there would be no MTP today, as there is no Yankee today. “
The OM lawyer recognizes that “Rachid Zéroual is painful”, but “to say that these incidents are the fault of the Winners, I can’t do it! I have a similar position for the Ultras”.
A helping hand, very clearly, while a new OM convention / supporters groups is emerging, in a context of appeasement also desired by the owner of the club Frank McCourt and the new president Pablo Longoria.
During their pleadings, OM’s lawyers do not hide it, and calm things down with their supporters associations. “This is not the trial of the supporters, it is the trial of the thugs. OM cannot live without its supporters and OM do not have the capacity to choose its supporters.” A line much softer than a certain Jacques-Henri Eyraud would have liked, whose ears may have whistled on Monday, via this latest punchline from one of the club’s lawyers: “OM is not Game of Thrones (As JHE described it in So Foot magazine.) There is no such thing as a savage tribe, an Iron Throne. They are not outlaw bikers hungry for corruption and violence. “
Sentencing arrangements for the four sentenced supporters
The Marseille Criminal Court delivered its deliberation in the early evening on Monday. He estimated that there was several evidence of an organization for degradation and violence: leaflets, meetings, announcement on social networks, time of assembly, and distribution of material in particular.
Mehdi D., the treasurer of the MTP, was sentenced to one year in prison but his sentence is arranged with an electronic bracelet to wear at home. Rachid Zeroual and Christophe Bourguignon are sentenced to 9 months in prison, 5 of which are suspended, with also a modification of the sentence. So they don’t go to jail either. Hamza B., of the Winners, receives a 10-month suspended prison sentence. Finally, Christophe C., the ex-capo of the Winners, is relaxed.
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Source : L'Equipe
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