Me Alexandre Silva, Dahbia B.’s lawyer, speaks out against rumors and misinformation during a press briefing at the Paris court on Wednesday.
Since the discovery last Friday of the body of the young schoolgirl in the 19th arrondissement of Paris in a trunk, Alexandre Silva, Dahbia B.’s lawyer, has faced many rumors and misinformation. During a press briefing held this Wednesday at the Paris court, Me Alexandre Silva called for an end to the “misinformation or even lies“around this case.
This Wednesday, he denied the rumor that “would consist in implying that the motive for the murder of little Lola would be animated by a racist motive“.”This mobile is absolutely not verified, it is false, it was never considered“, he asserted.
Dahbia B., 24, was indicted on Monday for murder and aggravated rape of a minor, then placed in pre-trial detention. No aggravating circumstances relating to racism have been retained at this stage of the investigation.
The murder of Lola has raised heated debates in the political class and multiple passes of arms in the National Assembly. “The debate or the political recovery (…) which arise from this rumor and of course the OQTF”, the obligation to leave the territory which had been issued in August to his client, is “a political question on which I won’t bend since I’m just a modest lawyer“, commented Me Silva.
The circumstances of Lola’s death and the profile of the suspect, of Algerian nationality, have sparked strong criticism from the right and the far right, who have notably blamed the government for mismanagement of irregular immigration.
Arrested on August 21 at a French airport for lack of a residence permit, she was issued with an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF). As she has no criminal record, she is not placed in an administrative detention center (CRA), but left free with a period of thirty days to return to Algeria.
The lawyer also wanted to recall that, contrary to what “speakers on the sets” of TV, “there are a number of particularly serious offenses which incur incompressible life imprisonment, that is to say without the possibility for the person of ever leaving prison“.”The offense with which my client is specifically charged falls under one of these categories“, underlined Me Silva.
In addition, he recalled that a person declared criminally irresponsible “can spend her whole life in a psychiatric hospital as long as she is not deemed fit to be released, if I may say so“, he insisted. As in any criminal procedure, one or more psychiatric expert opinions will be ordered during the investigation to determine the criminal responsibility of Dahbia B., who is said to be suffering from psychiatric disorders.
“I provide these details, because these ‘misinformation’ or even these lies have the effect in the minds of the public of arousing anxiety and above all of not having confidence in French justice.“, also affirmed Me Silva.
Source: AFP