France: Brawl Breaks out in Court During Murder Trial

On Tuesday, May 12, during a murder trial in Bordeaux, France, involving eight defendants, a brawl broke out among some 20 or so people. The trial concerns the murder in January 2021 of a 16-year-old boy, Lionel Sess, in the Aubiers area of Bordeaux. Sess, who was apparently selling pastries outside his apartment building, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to witnesses, when a drive-by shooting occurred as part of neighborhood gang rivalries. Three defendants, identified as Adboulhadre Savane, Marwan Souane, and Yassine Salmi, are specifically charged with the murder of Sess, while five other men are also on trial as accessories, some of whom are not in custody, and who were attacked in court by the persons involved in the brawl.

The below article in Le Figaro-Bordeaux is translated by Fousesquawk.

“I have never seen such an outbreak of violence”: Brawl breaks out in Bordeaux court amid neighborhood rivalries

By Le Figaro with Agence France Presse

One day ago

“A mob of about 20 people charged at my client, who was injured in the shoulder,” relates one of the attorneys for the accused, who appeared free (not in custody), Attorney Gregoire Mouly.

A violent brawl broke out Monday evening inside the criminal court of Gironde during the trial of three young men, charged with the death of Lionel, 16, fatally wounded during a shootout amid rivalries between Bordeaux neighborhoods. “At the conclusion of the first day of hearings, serious incidents took place in the courtroom and the public waiting area of the court of appeal, leading to injuries to police officers who intervened to restore order,” the court of appeal writes in a press release. No arrests were made during the incident.

Tuesday morning, the courtroom capacity was reduced by half, and the security deployment was reinforced for the remainder of the trial. The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into “group violence”. “The atmosphere was surprisingly calm all day. Then, at the end of the hearing, we saw about 20 young hulking men arrive, little by little, and dressed in black, who sat on a bench in the back of the room,” related Attorney Yann Herrera, who is representing the relatives of Lionel Sess.

“You want war? You’ll have it”

As the room emptied, dozens of people began to fight, some of whom were wearing padded gloves, in the space between the hearing room and the public waiting area, then in the courtroom itself,” related the attorney. “A mob of about 20 persons charged at my client, who was injured in the shoulder,” related Attorney Gregoire Mouly, one of the lawyers for the accused who appeared free (not in custody). 

“In my life as a lawyer, I have never seen such an outbreak of violence in a courtroom,” (Mouly) points out. The appeals court of Bordeaux indicated that the trial, scheduled to run till May 23, “will continue till its end under reinforced security”. On Saturday, January 2, 2021, shortly after 10 p.m., at the foot of an apartment building in the neighborhood of Aubiers, in north Bordeaux, Lionel was selling pastries so he could go on a skiing trip when automatic rifle shots were fired at the foot of his apartment building. 

“You want war? You’ll have it,” one of them shouted, according to witnesses. A hooded man chased the adolescents on foot, shouting, “Smoke (shoot) the little ones”, victims and residents recounted to investigators. Three minors, ages 13 to 16, took refuge in surrounding buildings, seriously wounded. Lionel remained on the ground unconscious, hit by two bullets, one of which in the torso.