The money laundering trial of Saïd Chabane and others in Bobigny is here to stay. In a sometimes tense atmosphere, the first day, this Monday, was mainly devoted to procedural questions. While the defense had demanded a referral, due to late and fragmentary communication of the file, which the civil parties – the FFF, the LFP and the Union of French Sports Agents – did not object, and expected to win his case, the president of the 15th chamber rejected this request, after more than two hours of deliberation. Enough to stretch the different actors a little more.
This hearing brings together an unusual gallery of characters in the dock: Saïd Chabane, owner and former president of Angers SCO; Jalal Benalla, former club recruiter; Lassana Koita, FFF agent; Abdelkader Chehida, leader at the semi-pro level and Abdelkader Khelafi, intermediary behind the investigation and currently imprisoned for other charges. The latter arrived last in the room, shortly after 10 a.m., from the Fleury-Mérogis penitentiary center, handcuffed and escorted.
To support its referral request, the defense, homogeneous but individualized, notably pointed to the sending, around two weeks ago, of an entire volume of the procedure (i.e. approximately a third). “It’s not a whim but we are working blindly,” thundered Me Céline Lasek, Benalla’s lawyer, criticizing a failure to respect the rights of the defense. In vain. The president recognized an “incomplete first communication” of the documents but considered that “the due diligence was immediately carried out” on the part of her court.
Debates resume Tuesday at 10 a.m.
After the lunch break, the defense, standing as a unit, requested a representative of the Bar Association to “reopen the debate”. A situation deemed “a bit ubuesque” by the president, when Me Benjamin Peyrelevade, advisor to the FFF and the LFP, wanted to “restore some serenity”. “You are going to have to make an important decision. We might as well make sure that it is the most relevant,” continued Me Salomé Cohen, Khelafi’s lawyer, according to whom her client is not able to fully defend himself because of the “prison shock” recently suffered (due to his incarceration about a fortnight ago).
New setback. At around 4 p.m., the president, tenacious, reappeared to confirm her position and that of her two assessors: “After deliberating, the court reiterates its decision to reject the referral requests and we will therefore address at this stage preventions”. The defense then filed requests with the president of the Court of Appeal, demanding a 24-hour stay of proceedings. After yet another suspension, the president ended up setting the resumption of the debates for Tuesday morning, 10 a.m., to take stock of the appeals initiated. And finally get to the bottom of the matter?
