Nicolas Zepeda remains in prison. A decision taken this Wednesday, February 2, 2022 by the investigating chamber of the Besançon Court of Appeal, less than two months before the opening of the trial before the Doubs assizes of the 31-year-old Chilean. Nicolas Zepeda is due to appear in this court from March 28, 2022 to answer for the assassination of his ex-girlfriend, the Japanese student Narumi Kurozaki, in December 2016 in Besançon.
Nicolas Zepeda has been in pre-trial detention, kept in solitary confinement at the Besançon remand center since July 2020, after his extradition from Chile. This is the second time his lawyers have asked for his release., the previous request in January 2021 had also been rejected by the courts.
The alleged killer was not in court
Nicolas Zepeda was not present at the hearing this Wednesday, February 2. His lawyers, Me Julie Benedetti and Me Jacqueline Laffont, affirmed that the alleged assassin had always been at the disposal of justice since his extradition, that he had answered all the interrogations in a spirit of cooperation, and that he had no interest in fleeing if he was released, stating that their client was ready to accept placement under an electronic bracelet.
They also argued that Nicolas Zepeda had no never made any attempt to pressure any witnesses, and that the investigation being closed, these testimonies are now recorded in the procedure. “Nicolas Zepeda is weighed down by the difficulties France had in obtaining his extradition, but he had nothing to do with it!“pleaded Me Laffont.
Imagine the emotion that a release would arouse among the parents and sisters of the victim” – Me Sylvie Galley, lawyer for the family of Narumi
Me Sylvie Galley, the lawyer for the family of Narumi Kurozaki, then took the floor to ask for the continued detention of the Chilean, an inevitable decision according to her with less than two months of the trial: “Imagine the emotion that would arouse a release from Narumi’s parents and two young sisters before Nicolas Zepeda is tried, it’s a wound that does not heal“.
A real risk of flight, according to the Advocate General
Advocate General Jean-François Parietti recalled that the alleged assassin was extradited from Chile “in very difficult conditions, after a very long procedure“. And for him the risk of leakage is real: “if he returned to Chile, we would no longer have the possibility of having him extradited again“. And concerning the possible pressure on witnesses, the magistrate underlines that the court of assizes works according to the principle of an oral procedure, cookie versions may change, “if he is free, their word may not be the same“.
The judges were obviously sensitive to these arguments, sincethey made the decision to leave Nicolas Zepeda in prison until his appearance before the assizes of the Doubs.