Franck Serfati, lawyer for the family of Jérémy Cohen, this young man who died caught by a tram in Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) in mid-February while fleeing an attack, declared Tuesday April 5 on franceinfo that he did not there is, for now, “no certainty established” on the potentially anti-Semitic nature of the facts. “If the judicial inquiry could establish that the anti-Semitic character is characterized, we would not be outrageously surprised”says the lawyer.
Several candidates for the presidential election have seized on the death of Jérémy Cohen, six days before the ballot, by evoking an anti-Semitic attack, which the Bobigny prosecution does not mention. A first investigation was immediately opened to determine the circumstances of the death. A judicial investigation was also opened on March 29 for “intentional violence in a meeting resulting in death without the intention of giving it,” said the prosecutor in a press release on Monday.
franceinfo: Do you have any information on the potential anti-Semitic nature of Jérémy Cohen’s attack?
Frank Serfati: We have no established certainty, however, it is not a fabrication. I am a lawyer, legal technician. When a fact is affirmed before a court in order to have judicial truth, it is obviously necessary that this fact be perfectly established. Today, we have no proof that Jérémy was attacked and killed because he was a Jew. However, we cannot say either that he was not abused because he was a Jew. We have been in a global situation for fifteen years now in France, where anti-Semitic acts are not insignificant. They are not rare or exceptional. If the judicial inquiry made it possible to establish that the anti-Semitic character is characterized, we would not be outrageously surprised.
What does the family think of the initial investigation by the police, since it is ultimately their own steps that call into question the thesis of a simple accident?
At first, it is certain that the police did not take this case seriously enough, being reminded that a complaint was filed on February 17, a few hours after the death of Jérémy Cohen. Faced with a reaction [policière] which appeared, in the eyes of the family, not totally dynamic and compliant, two of Jérémy Cohen’s brothers launched a successful call for witnesses. During February, we have a return following this call for witnesses with the video, with text messages, with some testimonies. The Cohen family again intervened with the Bobigny police station with these elements, and the virtual certainty that Jérémy had been savagely attacked. As early as February, one of Jérémy’s brothers insisted to the investigators that there be an exploitation of street cameras.
“The start of the investigation was obviously very long and incomplete. We hope that this delay will be quickly caught up and that we can have investigations.”
Franck Serfati, Jérémy Cohen’s family lawyerat franceinfo
Do you regret that presidential candidates seized on the death of Jérémy Cohen, six days before the first round, while the family itself turned to Éric Zemmour?
I do not enter into this debate. What interests me is the judicial authority. My gaze is turned only towards the court of Bobigny. Candidates do what they want, say what they want. I believe in the separation of powers, I believe in the justice of our country. I don’t have the impression that the investigating judge wants to turn his back on this investigation. As long as I am not certain of a denial of justice, I believe in justice and I hope that an inquiry will be opened and that investigations will be carried out. We hope that the perpetrators will be identified, apprehended, judged. The rest doesn’t interest me.