In the trial of the Petit Bar gang, the defense lawyers argue a perceived bias for showcasing a "criminal agenda"
"Locked 'em up" says the Marseille prosecutor's office, calling for a staggering 129 years in prison and a whopping €17 million in fines against the 24 suspects in the "Email Diamant" scandal - a name given to this sordid tale by investigators. But their defense lawyers fired back, pleading "not guilty" for almost all of them, after nine weeks of nail-biting proceedings. The final act of this sprawling trial, starring the criminal crew of Le Petit Bar, came to a close on May 17.
This trial marks a new approach for the prosecution against organized crime, charging them with aggravated money laundering as a gang. Much like Al Capone, who crumbled under tax evasion charges, the prosecution demands, "[t]he end of the mafia's financial stranglehold on Corsica" - not through bloodshed, but through their wallets. The defense cried foul, "a desperate attempt at a penal spectacle": "[t]he Email Diamant case, or how to become judicially whiter than white," grumbled M. Emmanuel Molina, lawyer for Pascal Porri.
With only 17.31% of this saga left to unfold, the contest between justice and power continues. Stay tuned for the verdict, you won't want to miss this one.
In the ongoing trial of the "Email Diamant" scandal, the prosecution is targeting the financial aspect of the organized crime, aiming to strip the mafia of its financial control over Corsica, a move reminiscent of the downfall of Al Capone due to tax evasion charges. However, the defense sees this as a theatrical attempt to frame their clients and sticks to their claims of innocence, dubbing the case as a "desperate attempt at a penal spectacle."
