Two men were convicted of assaults on customers of the ZanzyBar, a well-known LGBT-friendly establishment in downtown Saint-Étienne, with the homophobic motive ultimately not being upheld.
Last July, two suspects were arrested after the assault of several customers in front of the ZanzyBar, the LGBT-friendly establishment in Saint-Étienne (Loire). This Friday, August 21, the two men appeared for violence committed in a group, with an aggravating circumstance linked to the victims’ sexual orientation. This aggravating factor was ultimately not upheld by the criminal court, which sentenced the defendants to 6 and 18 months in prison with suspended sentences, as well as to pay damages.
The events date back to July 11. It was a little over 1 a.m. when, in front of the establishment, ZanzyBar customers asked a vehicle to slow down. Dissatisfied, its occupants got out and struck several people present while shouting, according to witnesses, homophobic insults. Three customers were seriously injured and treated by emergency services. An investigation was opened for “aggravated violence, in a group and because of the victims’ sexual orientation.” In a statement, the city called for a gathering “in support of the victims and to collectively affirm that violence, hatred, and homophobia will never find a place in our city”.
“What is a faggot, I don’t know”
At the trial, the victims maintained that homophobic insults accompanied the blows. Their lawyer, Ms. Rosine Insalaco, defended the idea of a “punitive expedition”, noting that one of her clients, the waiter on duty that evening, “has not been able to return to work since the events”.
Facing them, the defendants denied any homophobia. “I have a transgender friend”, argued the younger, 19 years old, while repeating that he had never known the establishment was an LGBT venue. “What is a faggot, I don’t know”, retorted the other, 29, who suffers from a mental disability and who would, according to medical assessments, “think like a 13-year-old”.
The court ultimately determined that the homophobic insults “did not constitute the motive for the acts of violence”. Homophobia was therefore not retained as an aggravating circumstance. Convicted of “violence in a group,” the two men received six months in prison with a suspended sentence for one, 18 months for the other, and were ordered to pay 1,400 euros in damages to the victims jointly. “The status of the victim was recognized, which was the most important,” reacted to Stop Homophobia the ZanzyBar owner, Hervé Divet, who nevertheless called it “purely scandalous” that the court did not recognize the homophobic nature of the facts, in a context of a national resurgence of anti-LGBT violence.
