The Chalureau affair reached a new stage this Tuesday. The attorney general requested an eight-month suspended prison sentence against international rugby player Bastien Chalureau, tried on appeal for a racist attack against two men in 2020 in Toulouse. At first instance, he was sentenced to six months in prison for “acts of violence (…) committed because of the race or ethnicity of the victim”. The decision of the court of appeal will be rendered on January 16.
The 31-year-old rugby player has always denied having said “Are you OK?” », as the plaintiffs claim, before coming to blows with them on January 31, 2020 late in the evening, in the center of Toulouse. “Bastien Chalureau does not dispute the existence of this fight due to physical harm. On the other hand, there is a dispute about the racist motive of the facts with which he is accused,” David Mendel, the player’s lawyer, clarified before the hearing.
“A gratuitous attack”
A version of the facts challenged by the civil party’s lawyer, Me Laurent Sabounji, who denies the existence of a prior meeting. “In the parking lot, my clients heard racist insults and then they were attacked. It’s not a fight. This is gratuitous aggression. It all started with a blow from behind to one of my clients,” emphasizes Mr. Sabounji.
The Attorney General therefore decided this Tuesday after the presentation of the facts of all parties to request eight months of suspended prison sentence against the massive second line of Montpellier, two more than the first decision taken in November 2020 .
