Fabrice Rizzoli, a specialist in organized crime, fears that the broadcast of the face of a repentant appearing hidden by a screen at the trial of Rédoine Faïd “will dissuade some from cooperating with the justice system”. The specialist warns about the witness protection system, less elaborate in France than in Italy or the United States.
The broadcast this Thursday of the face of an accused appearing in hiding at the trial of the escape of the robber Rédoine Faïd at the Paris Assizes, is “a blunder which will dissuade some from cooperating with justice”regretted this Friday, October 6 on franceinfo Fabrice Rizzoli, specialist in organized crime, after the announcement of the upcoming opening of an investigation by the Paris prosecutor’s office.
This accused, appearing free, changed his life and identity a few years ago, after having denounced in a double assassination case a figure of Corsican organized crime, Jacques Mariani, who is in the box. Since the start of the trial, Philippe (first name changed) appeared behind a wooden screen installed in the courtroom.
>> Trial of Rédoine Faïd: an accused appearing in hiding since the start of the hearing appears in front of everyone after a technical bug
But during his interrogation on Thursday, October 6, the image of this man on the stand was broadcast for several minutes in close-up. After a suspension of the hearing, the president announced that a photo had been taken from the audience and posted on social networks.
“Maybe this man is in danger now.”
Fabrice Rizzoli, specialist in organized crimefranceinfo
“This is an extremely regrettable incident, which raises the question of the ability to deliver justice in such complex trials”declared Fabrice Rizzoli. “This trial is tainted by the broadcasting of the face of this justice cooperator.” According to him, “maybe this man is now in danger”. “Everything will depend on how the witness protection system continues”he believes, pointing to a much less in-depth protection system in France than in other countries. “It is not possible to protect justice cooperators in France, unlike what is happening in Italy, the Netherlands, the United States, and Canada”.
“In Italy, it is an ultra-effective instrument that shatters the organization from the inside”pointing to the cooperation of “3,000 mafiosi” now protected. “We would really need such a system in France but we do not know the exact number of people affected by the witness protection program.”
>> There is a presence of the Italian mafia in France, according to Fabrice Rizzoli, specialist in serious crime and mafias