Up to 25 years in prison for the torturers of a teenage drug dealer

verdict Four young people from a Marseille city had kidnapped and tortured the 16-year-old victim, notably with cigarettes and a blowtorch

A lawyer in court (illustration). — A Gelabart/20 Minutes

The Aix-en-Provence criminal court sentenced Friday at penalties ranging from five to five 25 years in prison four young people from a city marseillaise where a 16-year-old teenager had been tortured for wanting to sell a few grams of drugs without the network's approval.

On the run from a home in Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), the victim had been kidnapped. surprise in August 2019 at dealer a few grams of cocaine and cannabis without the authorization of the managers of the city network; Félix-Pyat, located not far from the center of Marseille.

The teenager was then arrested. delivered à a group of around fifteen people who had beaten him before taking him to an abandoned premises; where, for one night, he was going to be sequestered; and beaten.

In the dead of night, two men, described as drunk, tortured him. by burning his body around forty times with a cigarette and with a blowtorch on his genitals.

“ A life that has stopped” /h2>

&Agé Only 16 years old at the time of the events, the teenager appeared paralyzed by his shock. before the Assize Court during the trial, without succeeding in attend the debates, apart from his testimony during which he had mentioned “a life that has stopped”.

While he has always contested Based on the facts, the Court of Assizes found El Kabir M’Saidie Ali, 24, guilty of kidnapping accompanied by acts of torture and barbarity and sentenced him to death. à 25 years of criminal imprisonment, in accordance with the requirements of the prosecution.

His lawyers had demanded his acquittal, citing the weakness of the evidence against him. A witness heard under X had named him, adding that the two torturers had “acted for pleasure, to have fun”. , El Kabir M’Saidie Ali had displayed great coldness with regard to the ordeal endured by the teenager. When an investigator showed him the photo of the victim's atrocious injuries, he turned it around: “There are more serious things in life, that’s not my concern.”.

« Leave into the night »

For his lawyer, Me Tiphaine Rémy, “he has built a shell for himself in this neighborhood, the most impoverished in the world’ from France, where violence is daily and, for him, not being interested in others is part of the instinct for survival.

Also condemned for kidnapping with torture and barbaric acts, Abou Bacari Madi, 23, was sentenced to five years in prison. While he had always affirmed that not having been at the scene, he admitted during the trial to being « pasté à outside the premises » the day after the victim's ordeal.

At the moment when the latter, damaged and staggering, tried to escape, the group in which Abou Bacari Madi was found said to him: “You shouldn't leave now, leave in the night”, -he explained à the courtyard. “We cannot base a conviction for false imprisonment on this sentence alone,” during the hearing his lawyer Mr. Frédéric Coffano.

« In the city, we are obliged to to show solidarity to the network »

Also demanding his acquittal, Karim Ahamada, 30, was arrested. condemned à six years in prison for kidnapping. He had been the very first to be identified by the victim as having taken part in the first violence.

Condemned à five years in prison for kidnapping, Hichem Mchangama, 22, was the only one of the four accused to be sentenced to five years in prison for kidnapping. having quickly recognized his participation in the first violence. Apologizing, the young accused could not explain why he had worn these blows, at the request of a friend who is a member of the network.

« In the city, explained his lawyer, Me Karim Bouguessa, at some point or at some point another, we are obliged to to show solidarity to the network even if we are not part of it. »

In November 2022, a fifth accused, aged 17 years old at the time of the events, had been condemned à ten years in prison by the juvenile court. He was accused of for having hit the victim and making him snort cocaine.

Many young people, attracted by the mirage of easy money, are recruited by drug trafficking networks of the South-East of France and in particular in; Marseille where The war for control of deal points has left more than 40 dead since the start of the year.