"BEYOND HATRED" "It's a failure... of the society I live and am part of." "Because I am part of it." "What will life be like after that?" "This story begins 730 days after the murder" "Jean-Paul, I can't do it." "You can't?" "Let's see." "I'll give it back after." "Because it's tiny." "It's really hard to hold." "It has to be snowwhite." "If not, it won't look good." "This bit goes better!" "Didn't you notice that this bit fits better?" "He didn't realize what was happening because they jumped out at him." "He must've trusted them, and tried to talk to them." "He told them right out he was gay, because they asked him." "After they threw him in the water they went after him again." "I've no idea why they went after him and started all over again." "Then I guess he said things, even if he was a bit groggy." "He must have been totally out of it." "This anger, this hate, it's..." "I was quite capable of the same type of violence as those three, I think." "You have to live with that." "You discover another side to yourself." "He must've said something like this to them:" ""Do you realize what you're doing?"" "Or: "You bunch of assholes!" Something like that." "He must've said:" ""Think what you're doing!"" "Those three... are the last to see Francois alive..." "It was just Francois' face." "That's a question... we'd like an answer to:" "Why the face?" "It's symbolic of something..." "He was still wearing his pants." "His top had come off, but it was when they threw him in that it came off." "They didn't strip him naked." "It was just his face." "They took it out on his face." "And we don't why only the face." " It's weird." " It's a good question." "I didn't ask questions like that." "My fear in the car was that they would drag me out." "I thought, "Once I'm out it'll be worse."" "Especially since no one was around." "There was no one to ask for help, no one who could call the police..." "So I knew they could drag me out of the car." "I was terrified they'd drag me out." "I thought: "If they drag me out, anything can happen." "But in the end that didn't happen." "They just beat up the left side of his face." "Because it was the only side accessible to them." "For me, the physical pain wasn't the worst thing." "Even when they were hitting him, it wasn't like they were hurting him." "It was the surprise..." "I just wasn't expecting it..." "And the unrelenting fury." "And the insults I kept hearing..." ""We hate fags!" "We hate fags!"" "Screaming it out..." "It was pure hatred." "As the words left his mouth, it was like he was experiencing great relief in letting it all out." "That was the real pain I felt." "I need to talk." "I think it's the only way to free yourself of a certain number of things and finally get beyond hatred." "The hatred... on which you rebuild yourself." "Which is what you shouldn't do." "They went to Leo Lagrange Park..." " and I'll use their exact words " ""...to do some fag-bashing."" "They hid in the bushes... and waited for their prey, dare I say." "In truth, they proffer the ideas of the far right." "That's very true." "But as far as we know, only X and Y carried cards for the National Republican Movement." "We're not sure about the others." "Maybe they hadn't paid their subs." "We didn't pay them as much attention as we would their financial backers." " They must have put up posters." " That's probably right." "They also have The Oak magazine delivered." "The National Republican Movement monthly review." "At one point, one of them said:" ""Freminet was found guilty and sentenced" ""because Le Pen exploits people." "Whereas..."" " What's the other one called?" " Megret." ""..." "Megret's a lot better."" "But they really belong to the skinhead movement." "I don't think that betrays what's in the dossier:" "They're skinheads." "Their rallies:" "The skinhead movement." "Their camps:" "The skinhead movement." "Sure, it's all based on the ideas of the far right." "Though they do drink a lot of beer at those rallies." "They sing songs praising Hitler." "Those that family X were singing in the garage." "People in Bazencourt said the doors were wide open and they heard Hitler songs and marching." "Will we ever find out..." " this has always haunted me - ...at exactly what time it happened?" "There's a time window, but..." "I'd have to look into it more deeply." "We know what time they arrived..." "And when they got to the caf, ." "We know at about what time Francois left the bar and what bar he was in." "We can get a rough idea of how much time it took him to get from the bar to..." "I know he'd been drinking beer so I don't know..." " He might've stopped off on the way." " For a smoke." "There are also the photos the jury will see." "That we haven't seen." "And never will see." "If you want to see them I'll show you." " Later." " Yes." "It won't help right now." "I agree it won't really help, but at the same time, we can only... imagine what..." "You know what I mean." "Marie-Cecile, I have a file that contains..." "I know." "...black and white photos." "If ever you want to see them, tell me." "I'm not here to add to your grief." "For sure." "I know that your intentions are good, but..." "I'm not keeping you from them." "Photos apart, I've shown you everything else, right?" "Yes, of course you have." "The day you first called me and I saw the message saying it was very urgent," "I thought: "If Marie-Cecile calls and says it's very urgent," ""it must be serious." But I never thought it was that." "My worry then was to find out if you knew Francois was a homosexual." "I did." "Because he could easily have kept it a secret." "Since he wasn't obliged to tell you." "I thought it was great that he had told you." "Because if he hadn't done it or had put off doing it, it would have been even worse for you as you'd have had the impression he was hiding something." "But it's usual for kids to hide parts of their lives." "And a good job too!" "He was of adult age, so I guess it was normal he told you." "But it is quite a big thing, which is why I was concerned when you called..." "I think I asked you almost immediately." "Because I felt it would have made the whole thing even worse for you." "It will also be interesting to see How those who aren't on trial, not because they didn't do anything, but how they've changed in 2 years." "Because they haven't been in prison." "So I wonder what they feel now about the crime." "I'm thinking of Aurelie's statement during the investigation, which was quite mind-blowing." " She supported them." " Yes..." "She supported their ideas." "And she admitted to taking part in their expeditions." "That she'd been with them..." "Without actually joining in." "But she knew what was happening." "Did the investigators try..." "Could Aurelie's statement have any bearing?" "To show that the hatred and the insults he incurred harmed him more than the physical beating." "For me, it wasn't a discovery, but it was something concrete." "Because in the end, what does the beating itself really matter?" "Nothing at all." "It's not anything concrete." "No, it's not concrete." "But people do realize..." "I'm not sure that they do." "Francois' murder took a very long time." "I find it extremely long for a victim." "The attack came in two phases." "We know from their own statements that it came in two waves." "They think they have the right to kill, an Arab or a homosexual without being..." "I guess they hoped they'd never be caught." "We had no idea what the reason was." "My first reaction was:" ""What was he doing there?"" "We knew he was in Rheims, but..." "Then the newspaper articles started suggesting things..." "We had no idea at all." "We were completely bemused." "How many years could they get?" " I don't know." " You don't?" "I don't know." "I can tell you the maximum, but it depends." "Will the minor try to present himself as a poor boy under the..." "Of course he was under the influence of Fabien." "That's an evidence." "Plus he lived in that environment." "So you wonder how he came to..." "Anyway, he's not exactly smart, let's be honest." "So as a teenager, all he had to identify with... and base himself on was that environment." "That's true, we can't go against that." "The father said he knew nothing, but at the second interview he admitted to starting to burn the ID papers in a saucepan, but as it began to smell..." " maybe they were plastic-coated - he burned the rest in the garden." "As for the mother, she admitted that..." "Franck gave her the cell-phone." "It's crazy how many cell-phones these people have!" "Franck brings home cell-phones, no one cares..." "She knew all about their expeditions." "They knew they went out in Rheims and they knew they weren't going out in Rheims to see a movie or a concert." "The parents completely messed up..." "How do you feel about all this?" "It's like our family has exploded." "We used to be very united..." "Sure there were things that never got said, but..." "My brothers and sisters and I no longer have the same relationship." "Why not?" "I think it's a way for us to protect ourselves." "Sure, Francois was the eldest, but he had his own life." "Yeah, right..." "It won't be easy." "I said it won't be easy." " It never is." " No..." "Francois sent... sent me 2 text messages on the Friday evening to tell me he was at the bar." "A bar I'd told him about in July." "I knew he'd gone for a few days to Rheims." "On the Saturday, his boyfriend called me..." "He was worried Francois hadn't called and couldn't be reached." "I told him not to worry... thinking that perhaps Francois just needed some space." "To get away from us all and have 3 days to himself." "I did try to call but got his voicemail." "I left a message." "The day went by... the Sunday." "Still no news of Francois." "I was really worried, but I thought, "Well, he's living his life."" "I knew he was due back on Monday evening." "Early evening or a bit later." "On Tuesday morning before leaving for work," "Mika called to say Francois hadn't come home." "Then I got really worried as there was no news at all." "When I got to work and had a chance to read the newspaper..." " the first page, at least " "I saw the article... in L'Ardennais..." "A young man had been found... in a park... but hadn't been identified." "About 30..." "So I called the SRPJ (the Regional Crime Squad)" "To make sure it wasn't Francois." "Then I went up to Rheims... knowing it was him, but... not wanting to believe it, hoping it was some else... right till the end." "Throughout the one-hour trip to Rheims," "I was saying: "Please call me." "Please don't let it be him..." ""Too bad for the other guy."" "It's dreadful to think that." "I reached the SRPJ at 1 p.m." "And..." "I must've spent... two and a half hours talking about Francois with the lieutenant, without knowing..." "Actually, I did know, but..." "I wasn't 100% certain." "Because when I got to the SRPJ I showed them his photos right away." "And anyway, the captain had already told me over the phone that he was very sorry, but... there was a big chance it was Francois." "So when I showed them the photos..." "I knew... somehow I knew." "I saw it in their faces." "At 3.30 p.m. They showed me his rings." "A little later, his photo taken after they had pulled him from the water." "A photo that looked nothing like him." "I didn't recognize him, only his hair extension." "All that was identifiable was his hair extension." "Then we went to the morgue." "I think it did me good to see him... like that, asleep... well, at rest." "At peace." "That evening, his body was sent to Paris for the autopsy." "And I had to tell my parents." "The hardest moment of the day, really." "I drove a knife into my parents when I told them... their eldest son was dead." "The only thing that seemed a bit weird was you asking us to sit down." "And Dad didn't want to." "He said: "Go on, spit it out!"" "Very hard, very dry..." "Right off, I kept thinking How I'd tell you." "There aren't exactly 50 thousand ways of expressing it." "And when I said it, when I said Francois had passed on..." "No, you said: "Francois is dead."" "I did." "And then..." "I remember asking you:" ""Where, when and how?" I asked you like that." "And in a tone..." "like you were about to jump down my throat." "Funny, huh?" "That really sticks in my mind." "It's not that I was scared you'd jump down my throat, but of a mother's reaction..." "A bit like a she-wolf, you know." " And Dad..." " I was in his arms." "You broke down." "And Dad..." "The memory I have of Dad..." " and this is just an image, right - is of him going... like a massive weight on his shoulders." "You were both in each other's arms and then you realized I was still there." "Because you were over there, leaning against the bread-bin, on the other side of the room." "It's like there was a kind of time warp." "And then came the precisions." "Over the next few days, it was funny because..." "I've always put myself in your shoes, to try to understand why you both reacted how you did when people asked you things." "What do you mean, "how we reacted"?" "Not letting us go out." "I thought to myself: "If I had a daughter maybe I'd be the same."" "That's how we saw things..." "That's the only time in my life I could put myself in your shoes." " But you couldn't." " And I didn't want to." "You hadn't had your own son Louis yet, so you couldn't." "The reaction of our friends' mothers and of your friends who are mothers was exactly the same." "It was so obvious because..." " What reaction?" " A gut reaction." "Everyone reacted with their guts." "All those women reacted with..." "Because a lot of them phoned, and they all reacted with their mother's instinct." "All having the same reaction is kind of..." "The way I see it, the death of a child... is beyond all logic, we gave it life..." "Remember what you said when you sat down that night?" "You said... not to me but to Dad, and it seemed odd because you said:" ""What's the point of all this?" While looking at your tummy, and I imagined you remembering the birth..." "I don't remember doing that." "And it questioned everything." "If he blows his top you're better off not being around." "It's his nerves." "Once he's got something into his head, that's it." "I told them right out:" ""You'll be discovered." ""It'll all come out and you'll be discovered."" "And I was right." "And now it's going round and round... thinking about it again and again." "I was in the kitchen when they came back." "Then Franck or one of the others came over and said:" ""We beat up a guy."" "I said: "I hope you haven't..."" "Sometimes I sit there staring at something for 10 minutes..." "I just stare..." "See my car?" "I could stare at that for 10 minutes." "Just sitting there staring." "Going round and round." "Two days later, my wife was watching the news and that's when we heard the poor lad had died in Leo Lagrange Park." "So I said to the boys:" ""You've been really stupid." "You'll pay for it now."" "They went all white." "I said:" ""You're in it big time, boys."" "People think seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist is because you're crazy." "Untrue!" "You say you're not nuts." "Of course you're not." "Psychologists aren't there to treat lunatics." "They're to help us with certain difficulties we have." "The proof I'm not crazy is all the dates I give you..." "Not one person in this room thinks for one instant that you have a single grain of madness." "Even if you smoke 3 or 4 packs a day, drink 2 or 3 quarts of beer a day and sleep only 1 or 2 hours, it's due to high anxiety or problems that are buried, some deep maybe," "which can be sorted out by someone qualified to help you." "It's got absolutely nothing to do with madness!" "There are some nights when I get through a quart of coffee." "There you go!" "Incontestably they had extreme ideas and almost absolute intolerance." "And they had already made many, many advances to my client on this point." "I'm not saying this excessive intolerance will vanish." "2 years is short in a man's life, but they have made a lot of progress." "I won't discourage you, but I witnessed Michael Freminet's "change"." "Freminet who was tried and sentenced for murdering Brahim Bouaram." "You're saying the exact same thing as his trial lawyer:" ""He's changed a lot..." ""He was only there because he was a poor misled lad..."" "What happens?" "He's released and returns to that ideology." "That's extremely discouraging for all the people, including me, who wanted him to change." "I don't know whether he's back into that ideology." "I don't know Freminet." "I've never been his lawyer and don't know his mind..." "He nonetheless moved in your clients' circles." "He returned to that intellectually poor entourage." "He's a friend of the sister of one of the men I'm defending." "There's nothing in the files to suggest that the lad hasn't changed his ideas." "He wasn't found guilty, but of course we checked, because his name was there and we wondered about it." "We found he was having problems with those who are accused today since it seems..." " I'm not his lawyer - he no longer shares their ideas." "The civil parties want to know what exactly happened." "Whether it's finally legally qualified as homicide 1 or as homicide 2 isn't the question." "It's to know their loved-ones' final moments." "That's howl see the case." "So basically we'll be fighting over 15 different statements." "Find out the truth?" "We're dealing with a milieu whose intellectual level is going to make it hard for us to get clear, coherent explanations." "We started off with homicide 1, which means:" "Even before arriving in the park, they had premeditated to kill." "The charge was then changed to homicide 2." "The charge sheet says:" ""Inquiries have established that the three men charged" ""went to Leo Lagrange Park intending to commit violence" ""and not to kill."" "So legally speaking, the question is:" "Before the park there had been no trouble, so..." "They won't go back on that now." "They went to the park "intending to commit violence" and they did." "So we're still on the same track." "I'll ask if, between the time of the beating and the time they took the body over the bridge, if they had discussed it." "And one of them said in his statement:" ""We didn't talk, we used eye-contact."" "That's fundamental, because there wasn't common premeditation." "That supports the theory that they lost control, then panicked and found a solution to get rid of the victim's body." "Right, because this morning Michael told me, when I asked why they carried the body to the bridge:" ""We were convinced he was dead," ""and we didn't want to leave the body on the path" ""where someone could find it and we'd be arrested right away."" "So they went to the trouble to hide what they thought was a dead body." "If we approach it as a form of pure violence and not an act of homophobia," "I don't think the civil parties will agree to it." "It's not a homophobia trial." "It's a gang of skinheads, who are by nature homophobic, who killed a homosexual man." "But it's not the primary characteristic of Francois Chenu, despite where he was found." "They hate homosexuals, they hate Arabs, they hate Jews, they hate Blacks, they hate socialists, they hate communists..." "Don't forget gypsies." "My first question to my client was:" ""Who's left?" "Not many people."" "Only them." "These guys are living in a void, because they have no family or friends." "And then they create a world with no people in it." "Except their violent buddies." "The children are coming." "One of them went up to him." "I don't know what he said but I suppose he asked if he was gay." "Francois wouldn't hide it, he'd have admitted it." "And that would have bothered them." "It must have made them mad." "There and back, you crossed this park, where 3 young men lay in wait behind some bushes to "do" a gay, having failed to "do" an Arab." "You crossed their path." "It could have been anyone else." "The hatred of others left you no chance." "Today, after our anger and our heartbreak, our wounds are still open." "But we want your death to help us all reflect." "You were happy to live." "You were easy to get on with." "Your artistic streak and sensitivity made you appear fragile." "But you were strong in beliefs and in friendship." "You couldn't conceive of intolerance, despite not being a militant." "You ask us now to look at ourselves to change our rapport with others." "We wish to participate in this everyday fight to increase tolerance and with it the respect of difference without which society would collapse." "It's unacceptable that political movements use youngsters, through their simplistic slogans designating as scapegoats Jews, Arabs and homosexuals, provoking hatred and justifying violence." "It's also unacceptable that our indifference and prejudice become bedfellows with intolerance, thus preventing escape from victimization and supporting communitarianism." "Each of us must question the way we look at all other people to increase tolerance and decrease violence." "We are with you on this Friday September 10, members of your family and friends, in Leo Lagrange Park for this moment of contemplation." "Francois, we are proud of you." "I'm a Radio-France reporter." "Can I ask you some questions?" " We'd rather not." " Not before the trial." "We don't any publicity." "But afterwards, you can contact our lawyer." "We do everything through her." "We'll meet after." " OK." "You'll be at the trial?" " Yes." " Then I'll see you there." " But it's in camera." "I know, but the press will be there." " Yes, of course." " We were told that." "But we don't want to talk about the trial." "I understand." "And I really respect your decision." "I remember Mom saying to me:" ""I know you saw him, but are you sure it was him?"" "You never give up hoping." "Even though I saw his body, I never gave up hope." "I don't really want to see them or enter their world." "They caused chaos in our lives." "We never asked them for anything." "They destroyed the life of six people." "They killed Francois and destroyed us five." "So I still don't feel like coming face to face with them." "Perhaps I have a fear... of having to live with certain feelings once I've actually met them." "You're always afraid of the unknown." "But once you know something, you can handle the fear." "The trial will be a reference for their whole lives, not just for what they did that September 13." "So I'll have to be aware and stay aware of all that." "But there will be a certain number of people there and that will necessarily force me to change." "I didn't feel like changing." "I'd like to have retained my anger for ever." "But I do realize that whatever happens... change will be a necessity and I'll have to see them differently." "What do you expect from next week's trial?" "A kind of relief?" "It will be an important step in my grieving process." "We've been waiting for this for two years, so it will be important to us, because we didn't see Francois." "And that's very hard to live with." "We expect a judgment, but no more than a judgment of fellowmen." "They must be tried and judged for what they did, and that's that." "Plus we'll see them and they'll see us..." ""Calling"." "Hello?" "Is it working?" "This is Monique Derrien in Rheims." "Seems to be working Great!" "This is a 40-second spot on the trial of three skinheads in Rheims." "I don't know how I'm doing for time." "I don't have a watch." "If I was too long, take out the last sentence." "3 young men with haggard eyes, not daring to look at the victim's family." "A factory packer, a soldier, a high-school student." "That's all we learned today of the 3 accused who attacked Francois Chenu for being homosexual." "Beaten and thrown in the pond of Leo Lagrange Park, Rheims, he died of drowning." "The trial will be in camera, because the youngest was then under 16." "No good!" "I should've said "was then 16"." "The trial will be in camera, because the youngest was then 16." "His parents will also appear for destroying evidence." "They're free and are known for their racist and xenophobic leanings." "One of their daughters was the then girlfriend of Michael Freminet, known for pushing a Moroccan in the River Seine during a National Front march on May 1, 1995." "A racist murder that saw him sentenced to 8 years in jail." "Is the hardest thing thinking that as he resisted he suffered?" "I'm proud of him." "I'm proud he resisted until the end." "He was passing through there..." "Wrong place, wrong time, that's all." "Hello." "Can I ask your role in this trial?" "Sister of the victim." "What do you expect from the trial?" "Not much." "Just that they're tried for their deeds." "Was it because of the fact that your brother was homosexual?" "What happened exactly?" "I'm sorry, but we have work to do." "I think it was especially hard for Francois' family this afternoon." "It was hard because they heard from the mouths of the accused what exactly they did." "They know the facts since they're familiar with the case." "But it's different hearing it from the horse's mouth..." " and I'm not here to reproach them even more - not coldly, but with a calm that sends shivers down your spine." "So in that respect, it's hard for them." "They told the story, but they had already admitted it." "They told what we already knew." "But it's true that with time, we might have expected some feelings about what they had done." "Like I said, it wasn't cold, but there was a distance that made it seem very cold." "Was their cowardice in their fury?" "For sure." "Three against one defenseless person the unrelenting beating to the face, leaving him, as far as they knew, for dead..." "The forensics experts who appeared this afternoon told us that what really killed Francois Chenu was that fact that they threw his body into the water." "He drowned to death." "And the poignant remark made by the experts today was:" "If they had left him on the path he'd still be alive today." "They couldn't stand the fact that he continued to resist." "That's when something clicked in their heads." "They thought: "With all we've just done, he's still going." ""Doesn't he realize we're stronger?" "Then we'll show him!"" "That was the path of violence." "That's what they couldn't stand." "It's they who give the lessons." "We'll ask only questions we have answers to." "It's hard to take in." "I know they wouldn't own up to it, but still..." "If it had been me instead of Francois Chenu," "I'd have done the same thing, till my dying breath." "I'd have spoken out." "You can't admit, however bad the violence, that numbers or strength stand for what's right." "I think that went right over their heads." "It wasn't in their code." "It was a very courageous act." "There's always one individual to be saved in a group, when you manage to break his behavioral reflexes and modes and we find real psychological answers and make Michael see that the real world is not how he saw it" "when he was with his skinhead pals." "That can make sense to him as an individual, as a human." "That's what we must do to bring him back into the fold." "Total familial incompetence." "Their families are totally inexistent." "Parents who accept their children being skinheads and taking over the family home is too much." "As both the defense and the prosecution tried to get them to say during their examinations." "It's more than just tolerance." "It becomes support at that level." "Secondly, a point we'll touch on tomorrow and the day after:" "The exploitation by people on the far right-wing who dedicate their lives to racism and xenophobia." "The exploitation of impressionable people who are somewhat fragile or who haven't got what it takes to go against the ideas they've been instilled with." "I think it's basically brainwashing." "His parents' reaction to what's happening?" "His parents didn't know what was going on." "They're both alcoholics." "I often had to pick up their youngest from the police station." " You're whose sister?" " His mother's." "I always thought he'd be violent one day, but against his father, and not against anyone else." "In fact, he's never gotten angry with his father." "He's only just realizing he's done something dreadful." "When I told him:" ""Your dad shouldn't have hit you,"" "he said: "He only ever hit me when I did something wrong."" "He always thought he was in the wrong, not his father." " It's a bit..." " Yes, I can imagine." "The first time I visited him in jail, he had a look in his eyes that I'd never seen." "It was a bit scary." "He was totally indoctrinated and had changed so much in just 2 months." "It's a second family for them in some way." "It's like they've been intoxicated and they're going through a detox." "They need to see something else." "I don't know..." "When you have a second family, it's like a drug, because that's where they exist." " His ideas are like a cyst." " Indeed they are." "And you can remove a cyst but you never know what's under it." "A cyst is on the surface." "Then there are roots, there could be a tumor..." "Removing it is one thing." "If you don't put something in its place, it's meaningless." "You're leaving them a void." "I don't want to jump in there and do them in." "But there is still this one hurdle, and I don't think I'll ever get over it..." "It's knowing what my brother went through." " Of course." " In my opinion, it must have been terrible fear and suffering, and that's something I'll never be able to accept." "It's true they told me:" ""The trial's important" ""because you can't get over Francois' last moments."" "His last 5 minutes do haunt me." "And even yesterday, when each one told his version..." "I know it's true:" "I'm still not over it." "They owe us, but they'll never be able to pay us back." "There's also a notion..." " I thought of this, this morning - of them obliging us..." " I'd noticed this before - to take a few steps forward, to change the way we see them." "We don't know where we're going, but we must move forward, because there's no..." "But I also find it really uncomfortable." "Marie-Cecile said something." "She said: "No one held out their hand to Francois." ""He died like a dog."" "And I draw a parallel with the hand Now being held out to her." "A kind of reflexive action." "We'll never really know exactly what happened, but I think that when Francois called them cowards, it made them mad." "It was the worse thing he could have said." "For them." "They're done up like warriors and someone calls them cowards." "They think they're supermen... and think he's subhuman." "Yet he called them cowards." "I had no idea what he might have said to them." "But I understand now, saying that made them lose control." "One of them said: "He insulted us."" "I think it was the worst insult they could hear." "Because they thought they were supermen." ""Since being here, I often think of that night." ""And i can't stop wondering what went through my head." ""Why we beat him to death, why we went so far." ""I keep telling myself I didn't set out to kill him." ""Sometimes I wish it had been someone much stronger," ""who'd have given us a hammering." ""We might've Learned a lesson and not gone back." ""But sadly, it wasn't the case." ""Beating up someone because I hate homosexuals..." ""I still do hate them." ""But why beat up someone Just because i don't like him" ""or because he's different?" ""You can fight to protect yourself Or your family," ""but not because someone is different." ""When you told me the psychiatrist had deduced" ""that i was violent and a probable repeat offender," ""i was very shocked." ""I don't know how he reached his analysis." "'True, what i did must have been misplaced violence," ""and I had often had fights for no particular reason." ""But I don't want that any more." ""Maybe because I'm apart from my fighting buddies." ""But the violence i used that night, and on other nights i had fought," ""was due to violence I suffered as a child," ""when I couldn't defend myself." ""I internalized hatred and violence inside me." ""When I met Fabien and the rest and they told me of their exploits," ""I thought:" "I want to belong to their group." ""I felt safe with them." ""Later, Fabien organized a fight between me and another guy he knew." ""i guess it was a test." "That day..." ""I lost, got angry and hid away to cry." ""I thought things would be like before:" ""I'd be the soft boy who gets pushed around."" "They made their own choices." "I know they had no help, but what they did was inexcusable." "I know there are explanations, but that's no excuse." "I agree with you." "So I can't accept that asshole putting on a 45-minute show!" "Saying: "I'm very moved by you and by your family."" "How would you react?" "He's taking the piss!" "If he was truly moved, he wouldn't have made a 45-minute speech." "I know they have to be defended, because they have nothing." " They must be defended." " Yeah, right." "It's one of our freedoms and part of our law, and we'd be like them if we didn't allow that." "The trouble is, you can't just excuse everything." "You can understand, but not always excuse." "I'm not talking about revenge." "I mean they should admit to their deeds." "It's not revenge, having them say what they really did." "They stole his face, they stole his identity." "They emptied him of all his human attributes." "Their defense is based on their deeds." "No." "What they want..." "The prosecutor has asked for 15 years minimum for the minor and 20 minimum for the two adults." "Minimum!" "He asked for that minimum!" "Their lawyers don't agree, they think it's too much." "I don't know..." "I agree with the other one." "I know prison's not adapted to helping them." "But you can't just free them." " They were talking about it." " I know." "You can't release them." "That happened two years ago." "Not one of them regrets it or feels any guilt." "Not one!" " Didn't one say sorry?" " No." "Nothing!" "One did, but only because his lawyer told him twice to do say it." "That's not coming from him." "I'm not saying the kid doesn't feel sorry at all." "But the lawyer shouldn't need to tell him." " It's not enough." " No, it's not." "Anyway, his lawyer mucked up because the court and the jury" "Saw that it was directed, it didn't come from his heart." "Even if the kid is sorry." "Maybe he is." "But he was directed, so there's a doubt." " What's a life worth?" " A life is priceless." "Then I wouldn't put a price on it." "OK, instead of a price, a sentence?" "A sentence?" "Life imprisonment." "What's that?" "A death sentence?" "No, I'm against the death penalty." "I'd put them away for life, for the life they took." "What's that?" "They took a life, so they give up theirs." " So life in prison?" " Sure." " The law doesn't say so." " That's a shame." " What does the law say then?" " 30 years." "That's not the length of a life when you're born." "All right." "But what could justify such a sentence?" "What justifies it?" "What do you think!" "The gratuitousness of the act." "But all delinquent acts are necessarily gratuitous." "Not necessarily, no." "In that case, you pardon a lot of things." "You have to try to understand things." " Enlarge." " What's the point of jail exactly?" "Are you all right?" "I don't know how many they'll be." " If they're quick it's bad, right?" " That's claptrap." "Only in courtroom dramas!" "There's no perfect recipe." "It doesn't mean anything." "They need time to consider the accounts and the pleas." "Your closing statement was really something." " It gave some courage back." " You'll need it." "You must go on." "You mustn't stop." "I'd say 25... at least 25 years." "I think..." "I think that Franck..." "Any less will be good." "25 years is too much." "25 years in a life." "But I think he deserves it." "A man died." "I can't put myself in his parents' shoes, but if it was our son, I couldn't take it." "If someone killed my boy tomorrow..." "It's awful..." "It's only logical." "They lost a child." "I think Franck will get 15 years, and Michael and Fabien, 25." "That's what I reckon." "Plus 3 years for my wife and 2 for me." "That's what I think." "You have adopted a very noble position," "But you're victims, you're owed something." "You owe nothing." "They owe you." "They should have recognized that debt on day one." "But it didn't come." "They didn't express it." "I sincerely think that Michael feels it." "He feels it but didn't express it." "And that pissed me off." "I thought: "What does he need to hear for him to say it?"" "It was finally squeezed out of him." "But that's not part of their code of conduct." "It's not part of their mode of expression." "It's not easy for them, I think." "When the three of them finally did say it, it wasn't easy, because there was a lot of emotion, and at the same time... it was hard for us, since we didn't know how to take it." "Thinking it was a calculated move?" "No." "Finding a way to show we hear them, but without..." "What I mean is, we need to be careful." "Be careful without engendering doubt." "Because we wouldn't want to give them hope, if they weren't ready to show remorse." "However, if they were, then they'd have to..." "Show us they'd heard us." "I think they did hear you." "So do I. But sometimes I think I'm..." "The future will tell us." "You need to be patient." "That's what I learned when I lost someone close." "You must be patient and demanding of yourself." "You have the right to be strong one minute, weak the next." " Exactly." " You need time." "But people think we're strong as they only see us when we are." "But in truth, the moments of weakness..." "We know we're weak." "They owe you, they owe you!" "I've always said to Michael that he owes you." "You see?" "He has a debt towards you." "And he recognized that at the end." "I truly believe he'll act in the way he said he would." "His aunt helped a lot." "I felt that, too." "Throughout the case." "Even at the start, from the first statements." " I believe it." " Good." "I believe it about your client." " It's important to tell him." " I will." "You say "I've tried to hear you", and then we'll change it." ""Since the death of our son Francois, we have always..."" "Sorry: "son and brother Francois"." ""...we have always trusted in the free justice of France." ""Justice has been done." "But we now wish each citizen" ""to feel more concerned about all they can do" ""to stop such a crime happening again." ""We told the accused, since found guilty and sentenced," ""that we have left the door open and we trust them" ""regarding the work needed in order to change" ""so they will believe in the republican values" ""of equality for all and fraternity." ""From now on, we wish..."" "Right: "we wish to begin our period of grief..."" " "...end our period of grief." - "Move on."" "No, not "move on"." "That's not what I feel." "We said we'd see what we could do afterwards." ""..." "From now on, we also wish to reflect..."" "Maybe you could reiterate:" ""...we, as parents..."" "Yes, that's good." " No, but regarding..." " Regarding what?" "Hang on a minute!" "Goddammit!" "This is a discussion!" " We're all working..." " A united family!" "Oh, no it's not!" "But it is a family with freedom of speech." "And you've taken that freedom, Mom!" "We started working on our grief two years ago." " What work?" " Regarding the three lads, regarding what they did..." "We'll start again. "Since the death of our son and brother Francois," ""we have always trusted in the free justice of France." ""Justice has been done." "But we now wish that each citizen" ""to feel more concerned about all they can do" ""to stop such a crime happening again." ""We told the accused, now found guilty and sentenced," ""that we have left the door open and trust them" ""regarding the work needed for them to change" ""so they believe in the republican values of equality and fraternity."" "For now, we won't change anything." "Rather than "crime" I'd put "attack"." "An attack is already a crime." " No..." " Yes, it is!" "It bears more weight on what happens after." "The attack leads to the crime." " Then add it with "crime"." " Then, "such an attack"." "I'd like to question one word..." "Sorry, but it seems important." "It's concerning the "open door"." "I'd rather use "ajar"." "I think there's an important nuance." ""Open" suggests "we forgive you"." "We didn't tell them it was "open", but "ajar"." "I just wanted to mention that." " And stick a finger up!" " What a reaction!" " OK, I'll change it." " Yes, that's good." "It has my seal of approval." "Can I write?" ""Since the death of our son and brother Francois," ""we have always trusted in the free justice of France." ""Justice has been done." ""But we now wish that each citizen" ""will feel more concerned about all they can do" ""to stop such a crime and such an attack" ""from happening again." ""We told the accused, since found guilty and sentenced," ""that we have left a door ajar" ""that we trust them" ""regarding the work they need to do to change" ""so they will believe in the republican values" ""of equality for all and fraternity." ""From now on, we wish to grieve" ""in peace, out of the media spotlight." ""Thank you very much."" "Two worlds met in this courtroom." "Two worlds, because of the values my clients hold dear." "Values like respect for others." "Values with which they raised their four children, and notably Francois." "They kept these values to the end." "These values also led them to say that they respect the humanity of the accused." "They also agreed to listen to what those young men went through at certain times in their childhood." "My clients drew lines for their children." "Yet they are able to understand that other parents do not, which could thus lead to disasters of this nature." "Thank you very much." "I don't know if sentences set examples or not." "I've always asked that question." "I just don't know." "I really, really don't know." "It's true you can be won over." "Like when you see... his father turn up, testify, leave..." "The mother too." "One juror, who wasn't selected in the end, says he met them strolling around Rheims in the afternoon." "We're talking about youngsters of 20, 22 years old!" "They come, they testify, they leave." "It was pretty surprising on the part of the families..." "They had to be there." "One father wasn't." "And then the sentencing of the parents..." "I mean, they're complete imbeciles." "And seeing them walk out of here..." "Though the prosecutor did say they'll be locked up in 10 days." "Mr and Mrs X didn't even look at Franck, who was sitting right behind them." "Their own son facing years in prison!" "If you can call him that, as they barely raised him." "Well for three days, she was sobbing at the idea of going back inside." "Crazy!" "The Marne Juvenile Court sentenced Fabien and Michael to 20 years, the minor to 15 years and his parents to 30 months with 6 suspended." "We're not meting out private revenge." "The prosecution's role is to say:" "The acts we are asking the court to condemn are very serious for the victim, but also for you, for society." "Here we had a group of young men with shared interests, none of whom were particularly remarkable." "One had been to jail, but they weren't professional criminals." "They were citizens." "They went off on an alcohol-fuelled expedition to "do some Arabs"." "But instead of an Arab, they found a homosexual." "Their hatred was then translated into an act of death." "We must work on this upstream and try to understand it." "Justice can't bring a victim back to life, but we can say:" ""Taking a life will cost you dear."" "Also we must set an example:" ""20 years is the minimum if you kill someone" ""while letting off steam over some private hatred."" "That's the point of this kind of trial." "More particularly, regarding the human dramas played out everyday in our various courts, where people are often surpassed by some situations and don't take precautions to prevent what happens." "But this act was premeditated, it was sought after." "An "operation" was carried out." "That has to be said." "We mustn't be seen to be saying:" ""There's a victim, sure." ""But the perpetrators have mitigating circumstances."" "I believe, in the interests of society, that this type of deed must be severely punished." "And it must have real meaning." ""Severely punished" means that two young men will spend 20 years behind bars." "That may sound hard, but it totally fits the tragedy and the way it was carried out." "We have to get him to understand... that we live in a society and we've a right to be different." "And that fighting against people who are different isn't what means... you exist." "Because he existed by destroying others." "So he wasn't "the soft lad", as he said." "It's the negation of others." "Until there's only one order." "Just one." "But he has perhaps understood... a little about the diversity of the world from what happened during the trial." "I know for a fact that it has helped him." "At least, I think it has." "The fact that a Mourad Benkoussa defended him definitely helped him." "The fact that I pleaded from the heart and with all my humanist beliefs helped him." "It brought him closer to us, made him less distrustful." "Six months later" "This is an open letter to Fabien, Michael and Franck." ""We, the parents of Francois, have decided to write to you today." ""We don't know if you'll read it and, moreover, if you'll reply." ""At the end of your trial on October 8" ""we already knew we would write to you." ""We waited several months before doing so" ""as we wanted the pressures of the three-day trial to subside." ""During those three days," ""we watched and listened to you." ""We attempted to decipher your logic of hate" ""but were unable to do so." ""We attempted to understand the spiral of violence" ""that pushed you into killing our son." ""Francois didn't know you, you didn't know him." ""He trusted you." ""He believed in man, whatever his color, religion or customs," ""He didn't flee you, he told you what he thought." ""You murdered him out of fear and hatred." ""You caused his life and yours to topple over." ""You denied his humanity, thus betraying your own." ""The trial told us about your lives, your family, your friends." ""But we also heard from your lips words that suggested" ""something was changing inside you." ""Know that in spite of our pain and our suffering," ""we are not driven by any desire for vengeance." ""Justice was done, and rightly so." ""For you." ""To give you back your human dignity." ""The dignity you lost when you killed Francois." ""We know that you, in prison, are victims of violence" ""that has turned against you." ""This test will turn you into men capable of thinking" ""and realizing courage doesn't mean attacking the weakest," ""but being able to face each other." ""We hope you will try and succeed." ""You must go forward," ""so you are not trapped for ever in that ideology of death:" ""Hatred for he who is different to you." ""Reading and thinking can help you to free yourselves of this." ""Meeting others will be easier if you learn to know yourselves," ""with your wounds, your defects and your qualities." ""Through these meetings, learn to love others." ""They are not necessarily your enemies." ""Francois showed you the way." ""He was courage personified, by not responding to violence," ""but by simply being himself and refusing to be humiliated." ""He truly believed we could co-exist by accepting all that we are" ""and by refusing all that shuts us away." ""Don't hesitate to seek help where you are now" ""to forge a future for yourselves without hatred and violence." ""We truly wish you success." ""If you like, please write to us." ""We'll certainly reply."" "We'll soon be posting that letter..." "Your handkerchief..." "To those who inspired this film, sincere thanks for your humanism" "Dedicated to the family and friends of Francois Chenu"