The prosecution speaks at the trial of Mohamed Lamine Aberouz: the only accused must answer for complicity in the assassination of a person holding public authority, complicity in the kidnapping of a minor and criminal terrorist association. The man, aged 30, faces life imprisonment.
She waited two weeks to speak out. While the trial of the Magnanville attack is almost coming to an end – the verdict will be rendered on Wednesday October 11 – Josiane Schneider, the mother of Jessica Schneider, the police officer murdered at her home, in Magnanville, in Yvelines, on October 13 June 2016, decided to call a press conference in the office of her lawyer, Thibault de Montbrial, to express herself on what she thinks of the accused. To also express his feelings about the trial and finally to deliver a more political message. “I want to send a message of caution. Nothing is over, the threat [terroriste] persists”assures this woman with auburn hair.
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There is no question for her of returning to her pain, her sorrow, which she shared with strong words during her testimony at the bar on Monday October 2 before the judges of the special court in Paris. If she now speaks in front of the cameras, it is to state it loud and clear: “My conviction is that [l’accusé] was an accomplice”.
“He never showed any compassion from the beginning”
As proof, she cites the testimony of her grandson, aged three in 2016, who saw his mother killed by the terrorist. Josiane Schneider assures that the assassin could only have a second man at his side. “Damien* (assumed first name) said that ‘mom screamed’, she was controlled. My daughter, I know her, she would not have let herself be done. So my conviction is that there is necessarily a second man. And for me, it’s him”. Him, Mohamed Aberouz, a relative of the terrorist, Larossi Abballa killed by the Raid during the assault in the victims’ pavilion.
Josiane Schneider stands straight, displays a sad smile, the same attitude that she has shown to the accused since the start of the trial. During these 15 days, Jessica’s mother had plenty of time to watch, to study the behavior of Mohamed Aberouz, a man in solitary confinement for six years, pugnacious in the face of the judges and the prosecution. “He never showed any compassion from the beginning”regrets Josiane Schneider for her part.
A retired teacher, she dares an unexpected comparison between Mohamed Aberouz and the students she had in her classes:
“I find in him this type of problem child that I helped. He deviated to build an identity for himself, to take revenge on the little boy who was made fun of, to move towards violence. He seeks to assert himself” .
Josiane Schneider,at franceinfo
An accused who responded for more than nine hours on Friday October 6 during his interrogation. He seemed very comfortable, knowing his file like the back of his hand. “He is in the word”judge Josiane Schneider. “That’s what makes him exist. And he will always be in the word”.
Josiane Schneider, immersed despite herself in the judicial machine, seeks the right technical term from her lawyer, wants to show that she also knows the case in great depth. And does not hesitate despite his conviction to express his “doubts” : “There are doubts, we know that. I am not an expert”she notes.
The child’s testimony makes possible the presence of an accomplice
She also admits to having been “destabilized” by the testimony of his grandson’s psychologist Monday October 2, testimony on which the prosecution was counting. Indeed, in the file which was used to investigate this trial, one of her colleagues who took care of the little boy at the Necker hospital (Paris 15th), wrote in her report that Damien*’s testimony could imply the presence of a second man during the attack. “She reacted like a professional person. She stayed in her field (…) She didn’t give us an answer”. During her testimony, this psychologist put the defense and the prosecution back to back, insisting on “war trauma” And “psychic torture” that the little boy suffered.
This disappointment does not prevent Josiane Schneider from saying that, in her opinion, the court will not be convinced by the defense arguments. Mohamed Aberouz’s lawyers took turns trying to dismantle the prosecution’s theories: they relentlessly questioned the DNA experts, the central point of the prosecution; the psychologist, the investigators, trying to tip the scales in favor of their client. “I trust the experts and their conclusions. This does not put us at a disadvantage as some might believe”indicates for her part the mother of Jessica Schneider.
The fact remains that during these more than two weeks of trial, Josiane Schneider attended all of the hearings, from the first to the last minute. She confides being “almost on a mission”to carry the memory of his daughter and his son-in-law, Jean-Baptiste Salvaing, and to try to have answers to his questions. “This trial has put certain things to rest, it has reminded me of a lot of things, but my pain remains and I repressed it during these two weeks. Even on the weekend at home, I say to myself ‘don’t think about it, come on , move forward’ and we’ll see later. It will be harder afterwards, I won’t hide that.”.
Josiane Schneider must still attend the indictment of the attorneys general, the pleadings of the defense lawyers, before hearing the last words of the accused on Wednesday October 11. The verdict will be rendered immediately.