Urgent: Trial Begins for 2018 Rue d’Aubagne Collapses in Marseille

A major trial is underway in Marseille over the tragic collapses of Rue d’Aubagne in 2018. sixteen individuals and legal entities are on trial, facing charges including manslaughter due to the manifestly deliberate violation of security obligations. The verdict, expected this Monday, could potentially hold key figures such as the deputy mayor, expert, trustee, or co-owners accountable for their roles in this/${document.currentTime.valueOf()}-${document.cookie
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facilitators guilt and an ‘extraordinary trial room’

The judicial process, held over a month and a half in the fall, has been much more than just a legal proceeding. The “outstanding trial room” has acted as a conduit for the anger and sadness of the city. publicados${document.cookie}
during the trial, tears were shed as accounts of the victims’ lives and deaths were recounted, particularly that of little El Amine. The collapses of numbers 63 and 65 were deemed inevitable due to the building’s state, but no shelter was provided for the tenants of 65, and the initiated work proved ineffective or counterproductive.

The investigation and the defendants

The investigation dismissed four individuals, including Julien Ruas and former municipale deputy mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin, architect Richard Carta, and two legal entities, the trustee of 65, cabinet Liautard, and the social housing owner of number 63, left to the state of ruin by Marseille Habitat. However, civil parties insisted on the inclusion of a dozen additional individuals, including co-owners.

In the end, 16 legal and physical persons are being tried for various crimes, including manslaughter by manifestly deliberate violation of a security obligation, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and submission of vulnerable people, including at least one minor, to unworthy accommodation conditions, which carries a sentence of up to ten years in prison.

The role of co-owners

The question now remains: will the court condemn the owners who were not prosecuted by the investigating judge? The prosecutor, Michel Sastre, followed the civil parties on this point, believing that the co-owners had “knowledge of the structural problems of the building” but had “played” to spend the least possible. He even required Xavier Cachard, an elected regional representative and owner and lawyer at the trustee, to serve the heaviest sentence: five years in prison, three suspended.

Significant penalties were also requested against architect-expert Richard Carta (three years in prison including two suspended) and Julien Ruas (three years in prison). The trial has shed a harsh light on the inaction of the Jean-Claude Gaudin team, whose party lost the town hall two years later.

The defendants’ defence

The defendants challenged the accusations in a block, their lawyers arguing cascading relaxes. Julien Ruas, in charge of managing urban risks, refused to “put all the responsibilities on the Marseille city hall”.

Juncture and future implications

The trial, which has brought to light significant issues regarding unworthy housing, signals a momentous shift in justice in Marseille, where such conditions thrive on precariousness. Since the tragedy, the courts of the second city in France have been severe, sending property owners of unsanitary residences to prison.

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