2023-11-23 21:18:26
At the end of three days of trial, the Bas-Rhin Assize Court followed the requisitions of the attorney general and sentenced Jonay Hoffert, 25 years old, to twenty years in prison for “murder and attempted murder”. , and Christian Haas, 45 years old. The latter’s brother, Gérard Haas, was sentenced to five years in prison for “violence with weapons”. The three men were being pursued after a brawl between communities of settled Travelers which occurred during the night of New Year’s Eve 2020 and led to the death of Josué Gorreta, 38, father of two children.
It should have been calm due to the confinement still in force, yet the Aéropostale sector, in the Neuhof district of Strasbourg, experienced, that evening, an outbreak of violence whose upheavals are still felt today ‘today. Including in the courtroom, where police and bailiffs took care to separate the relatives of the victims from those of the accused.
During the three days of hearing, in a crowded room where the atmosphere was tense, the film of that night in 2020 was replayed in court. In this peripheral district of the city there are various settled communities of travelers, notably Spanish Gypsies and Alsatian Manouches. Disputes exist and fights have already taken place between the clans.
“I had never seen this level of violence”
That evening, a marquee is set up to celebrate the New Year. The party is in full swing among the “Spaniards”, “Alsatians” are there too. Among them, Jonay Hoffert suddenly attacks Josué Gorreta because his little brother was hit by young Spaniards. It’s early this morning of January 1, 2021. The excitement is palpable and everyone has had a lot to drink. The organizer prefers to end the evening. Outside, a bottle is thrown, on the Haas side, at the car of Josué Gorreta, who stops a little further on to observe the damage. It was there that, according to several testimonies, he was violently attacked and stabbed.
The autopsy reveals that he was hit 18 times. Noé Diaz, his cousin, who comes to his aid, suffers eleven stab wounds. At the court, the lawyer assures that he owes his survival only to his overweight, which prevents the blade from reaching the vital parts. Josué Gorreta, injured, gets back into his vehicle, decides to rush towards his attackers and collides head-on with Christian Haas’s daughter, Olga. Later, his uncle Gérard Haas returned to the scene and fired in the direction of two men, who were injured in the head. In the meantime, Josué Gorreta dies.
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