It was July 7, 2016, the evening of the semi-final of the Euro football, between Germany and France. There were a lot of people that evening on the terrace of the bar, the Saint-Christophe, on the Place d’Armes, in Belfort, to celebrate the victory of the Blues. But the party turned to tragedy, because of a fight. A man lost his life, while he was a simple spectator of the facts.
The fight had broken out, right next to him, on the café terrace, between three soldiers and the two defendants, two brothers in their twenties and residents of Belfort, an extremely violent fight.
A table in the face
The two groups throw chairs at each other. The younger of the two brothers then seizes a table, throws it and hits the victimquietly sitting on the terrace. The 62-year-old man was shot in the head. This inhabitant of Plancher-les-Mines will die a few hours later, in the emergency room of the CHU of Besançon.
The three soldiers have already been tried. This Monday, there are only the two brothers who are in the box of the accused: the eldest for violence in a meeting and the youngest for violence having caused death without intention to give it. He has already served a year in pre-trial detention. Six years after the fact, he faces fifteen years of criminal imprisonment.
The trial is expected to last two days. The verdict is expected on Tuesday evening.