For seven years, the family and loved ones of Jérôme Laronze have been waiting for a trial. This 37-year-old farmer was shot dead by the gendarmes on May 20, 2017. Marie-Pierre Laronze, sister of the breeder and lawyer at the Lyon bar, is outraged by the slowness of justice.
On Thursday May 20, 2017, Jérôme Laronze, breeder in Trivy (Saône-et-Loire), was shot dead by a gendarme. A few days earlier, the cow herd of this 37-year-old farmer was going to be seized, after several checks by the veterinary services. Jérôme Laronze then flees.
Wanted by the gendarmes, he was seen in a vehicle during a check in Sailly, a town located around thirty kilometers away. That day, the breeder received three bullets, including two in the back. He will not survive his injuries. A gendarme is indicted for “violence leading to death without intention of causing it”.
The farmer said he had been harassed by the administration for several years. For seven years, his family has been waiting for a trial but justice is slow. Marie-Pierre Laronze, the victim’s sister, lawyer at the Lyon bar, answers our questions.
Marie-Pierre Laronze : “I miss the formulas because I have the impression that we have been asked this question for seven years. We are angry, we need what happened to be said, clarified, that responsibilities are established so that justice can do its job.
We see that the file still remains pending. We are angry with justice. After the violence that Jérôme suffered, the violence of his loss, of his absence, we also suffer the violence of judicial inertia. And this violence is the violence of a wound that does not close. I’m a lawyer, so I know that the trial is not the place to do your therapy. But the trial is a moment where we do not put a point on Jérôme’s story, but a point on the conditions of his death. The truth helps us move forward and heal. And the wound has been open for seven years, becoming infected. It’s the heaviest weight to carry.”
M.-P. L. : “None. You should know that this file includes several volumes with 500 procedural codes. However, it is ultimately a very simple file, we are not dealing with an international terrorism case. We still had four judges from instruction, we must therefore resume the file with times of inertia It is unbearable because behind there are people, a family, who are waiting. And then beyond the family, there are. citizens today, many citizens who are not at all from a peasant background are revolted, saying to themselves: how is it that seven years later, you are still in this phase of education which is not progressing?
I also had lots of farmers who approached me. And the protests at the beginning of the year reignited all that. The anger has returned but today the anger is also against justice.
M.-PL : “Yes, that should have allowed an acceleration. The decision of the administrative court of February 28, 2020, is enlightening on two elements. Firstly because the court, in 18 months, is able to render a decision. So that means that when justice wants, it can. The lack of resources must not become a pretext either. The file on administrative controls was very complex and there were several hearings, the director of the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Persons. populations (DDPP) of Mâcon was interviewed. There was real serious, honest and rapid work. This work must serve the purpose of education because it shows where the violence was, where the regularities were.
With two bullets in the back, where is the self-defense?
Marie-Pierre Laronzelawyer, sister of Jérôme Laronze
The last check was a continuation of the previous ones. Jérôme was someone who was criticized for many things. However, it turns out that the previous controls were canceled because the administration did not do things regularly. So all of this makes sense in relation to an instruction on the death of a man. This sheds light on the understanding of the file and yet seven years later, this file is still in a state of brain death. Today the elements are in the file, but they are not used.”
M.-PL : “In fact the gendarme’s line of defense, we do not know it since we are at the investigation stage. The gendarme, now indicted, immediately replied that he acted within the framework of self-defense. With two bullets in the back, where is the self-defense? I want to hear it, him, and the others. Let’s not forget that if it was he who shot and killed Jérôme, there is. even though he had some serious problems at the crime scene, important elements such as shell casings were removed. Other of his colleagues are also largely involved in this case.
There is material evidence in the file but it is important to hear the truth from the police. We would like to know why they left Jérôme in his seat for half an hour, without care. Where is humanity? Why can we leave a man lying in his own blood, dying? However, these gendarmes were all trained in first aid procedures.
M.-P. L. : “He was a farmer, the son of a farmer, who had converted to organic farming. He really put agroecology into practice. He was really aware of the importance of the role of the farmer, of the respect to be had towards of the land. Spokesman for the Peasant Confederation, he had a very strong commitment but a citizen commitment which came from the soil, from the earth and that is why he entered into confrontation with the administration. saw clearly that all these controls were additional harassment for the peasants with a financial cost. It was a way of making small farmers also disappear. And that was all that he denounced.