Fourteen jurors are immersed in the horror of the rwandan genocide – The Parisian

Pascal Simbikangwa, who was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison in 2014, is considered on appeal in the face of several inhabitants of 93.

the call of his name, this small woman with white hair stands up in the room and moves slowly, the air questioningly, to the seats reserved for jurors in the criminal court of Bobigny. She looks to the left to the advocate general, to the right of the accused and his lawyers… “Rejected !” launches the advocate general. As the defense, he has the names, occupations and dates of birth of residents of Seine-Saint-Denis, drawn at random on the electoral lists. The woman leaves sit in the room, exempt from this civic duty.

and Then the president of the assize court, Régis de Jorna, calls other names : a forty-something woman, who gets up to a good pace, a woman, who has a hard time gathering all his belongings, a young man, 25 years old at the most and the sheepish expressions,… Be jury service is never insignificant. Without a doubt, is it still less when it is a historic trial that will last seven weeks.

Kigali 1994, Bobigny 2016. It is a huge leap in time, in the history of humanity and justice than live since Tuesday, six men and eight women, all inhabitants of Seine-Saint-Denis. Alongside three professional judges, they have the burden of focus on the actions of a former captain in rwanda 56-year-old Pascal Simbikangwa, accused of complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity in Rwanda in 1994.

Arrested in the French department of Mayotte, he was sentenced in 2014 to twenty-five years in prison, in Paris, and has appealed. Only the tribunal de grande instance of the spring to have two rooms of seating, the palace of justice of Bobigny has been designated for the second trial. But as historic as it is, this trial is still a trial of common law, with juries drawn at random from the electoral rolls of the department.

” It is the duty of all citizens “, said the advocate-general, Rémi Crosson du Cormier, in an echo of the absence of the two women yet warned her that they were taking 3 750 € fine. The first relied on, Monday and Tuesday, ” due to personal and religious “. The second is a mom of three children who has just found a job and is “on the verge of burn-out,” she explained in an email read by the chairman at the hearing. The court has ruled : each must pay a fine of €1,000.

” The pressure exists throughout the world, some here have concerns and have agreed to do their civic duty, to receive all the thanks of our part, ” assured the general counsel to the jurors at the beginning of this trial, which is scheduled for completion on 9 December. As at the time of each trial in the assize court, the jurors receive compensation.