By Le Figaro with AFP
Published yesterday at 7:56 p.m., Updated yesterday at 9:33 p.m.
Le pilier Zakaria El Fakir GAIZKA IROZ / AFP
Pillar Zakaria El Fakir was on trial for several episodes of physical and psychological violence against his wife.
A rugby player from Biarritz Olympique was sentenced Thursday by the Bayonne court to four months in prison for “habitual violence” against his partner, committed between 2016 and 2023. The pillar Zakaria El Fakir, 27, recruited in 2021 by the club, was judged for several episodes of physical and psychological violence against his wife. But he denied “any violence” in court.
His wife, however, filed a complaint against him twice, a first time in 2019 and a second time in 2022. She was then relocated to emergency accommodation, with her two children. Today, the couple has resumed a life together. The prosecution, by requesting a one-year suspended prison sentence, pointed to a “control which has never ceased” and a “state of economic submission” of the victim, “whose word is taken into account by the courts”, when well even she wanted to withdraw.
In her complaint, she mentioned “slaps” and regular verbal violence. “There were disagreements and couple conflicts but there was never violence,” maintained the BO player. His lawyer, Mr. Olivier Couleau, who pleaded for acquittal, regretted a “complete file” and a “toxic relationship”, which does not, however, fall under criminal law.
Zakaria El Fakir passed through the clubs of Béziers, Bordeaux and Agen before signing for Biarritz in 2021, where his contract was renewed for three years. In July 2023, the Pro D2 club created controversy by recruiting Mohammed Haouas, former Montpellier player, convicted twice for violence, including a one-year prison sentence for hitting his wife in front of a supermarket.
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