the accused sentenced to 25 years in prison for having lit the fire which killed ten people in 2019 in Paris

The verdict was pronounced four years after the tragedy. The Paris Assize Court sentenced Essia Boularès, 44, to 25 years’ imprisonment on Thursday February 23 for having caused the fire in a building on rue Erlanger (16th arrondissement of Paris), in February 2019. He caused the death of ten people and injured more than 90. This sentence is accompanied by a security of two thirds, as well as a socio-judicial follow-up for 15 years with a “care order”.

After more than six hours of deliberation, the president of the court Franck Zientara justified this sentence by “the extreme gravity of the facts”evoking acts “not disconnected from reality”with a start of fire “deliberate”, “in the middle of the night”motivated by “anger and resentment”. A sentence of 27 years of criminal imprisonment, accompanied by 18 years of security, had been required Wednesday against the one who caused the death of ten people in 2019.

The “discernment” of Essia Boularès deemed “altered”

The jurors found that the “discernment” by Essia Boulares was good “altered” at the time of the events, as concluded by two psychiatric expert reports, but they “dismissed the benefit of the reduced sentence” permitted in this case by the penal code. On Wednesday, the Advocate General had invited the court to set aside such a reduction in sentence, “in view of the extreme gravity of the tragedy” caused by a “willful, vengeful and disproportionate action”.

In a brief statement before the adjournment on Thursday morning, Essia Boularès said: “I just wanna say sorry for everything, sorry for everything”before bursting into tears in the box.