Second day of the trial of the alleged exploiters of the petty thieves at the Trocadéro in Paris. Six Algerians will appear before the criminal court until Friday January 12 for having drugged and pushed 12 unaccompanied minors to rob tourists at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Facts which date back to 2021 and 2022. For fear of reprisals for the most part, no victim attends the trial. Only one agreed to testify, but remotely, by videoconference. We will call him Karim to protect his identity. His journey is quite similar to his little comrades in fortune. Hearing report.
2 mins
Despite a more than chaotic hearing… translation problems, fragmented responses, Karim’s journey takes shape in court.
That of a 13-year-old boy whose father finances the trip. A crossing of the Mediterranean in a zodiac, Spain… And then Paris. “II wanted to see the Eiffel Tower », he explains simply when the president asks him about his presence at the Trocadéro. There, he is approached by an Algerian who offers him Lyrica and Rivotril, two anti-epileptic drugs. He agrees to take some because everyone else was taking it “. An allusion to all these little Moroccans who frequent the Esplanade and to whom he will quickly become attached.
At first, the adults provide him with money and pills. But one day you have to pay it back. And for that, he steals.
His lawyer questions him about the role of medication, on which he quickly becomes dependent. If I don’t take it, I can’t fly. It gives me courage. The quantity at the time: five pills per day. That is almost three times the dose prescribed for an adult.
In the dock, he recognizes those for whom he stole, the one from whom he bought pills and the one who regularly hit him. The investigation even reveals traces of torture. At first, they were nice… he remembers. But then why did you stay with them? the president asks. I felt a little close, I had no one else to talk to.
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