This Thursday, the Chamber of Indictments of Mons confirmed the detention in prison of Paolo Falzone, the author of the drama of Strépy which cost the lives of 6 people, who continues to deny the voluntary nature of his act. The judge also confirmed the murder qualification for one of the victims, namely Fred D’Andrea, whose brother Grégory agreed to react to this decision. “We are relieved that he remains in prison but honestly, we expect that he will be released one day, in any case put on an electronic bracelet, but the main thing is that he remains charged with murder “, told us the brother of Fred D’Andrea, gille in the company of Boute-en-Train de Strépy-Bracquegnies and died on March 20th. “That said, we would like him to be charged not only for the murder of my brother but also for that of the other victims.”
Paolo Falzone, via his adviser Me Gwennaëlle Bombart, collaborator of Me Discepoli, does not hear it that way. “Mr. Falzone continues to fiercely contest the voluntary and intentional nature of his act”, confirmed the lawyer. “He had no intention of killing anyone that night For him, it remains an unfortunate accident. “
For the family of Fred D’Andrea, this argument does not completely hold water. “The first impact might be qualified as an accident, at the limit. But on some videos that appeared in the media, we clearly see the driver of the vehicle braking then accelerating, dropping my brother’s body on the road and then rolling over it. Maybe, I say maybe, that if he hadn’t accelerated once more, my brother would still be alive… And following this second impact, he still rolled a few hundred meters with the bodies of two people in his cabin. In my opinion, this kind of behavior is not normal and is similar to that of a murderer”, continues Grégory D’Andrea. “The argument that there was no sign indicating any local festival does not hold water either because at the speed at which he was driving (the figure of 140 km/h was mentioned in particular, editor’s note), it was on a German autobahn he was driving and not a small street in a built-up area.”
Regarding surveillance by electronic bracelet, the defense will continue to demand it. “It is important to emphasize that, even if the person is not in prison strictly speaking, it is still detention”explains Me Bombart. “The investigation continues to advance and we believe that 5 months of pre-trial detention is an exception in this type of case. Measures of distance from the families of the victims would be taken in the event of electronic braceleting.”
In two months, Paolo Falzone will appear once more before the Chamber of Indictments. The investigation is thus still ongoing, both for and once morest the perpetrator, which might therefore cause the case to evolve in one direction or the other.
