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Prosecutors seek 30 years for Frenchman accused of murdering ex-partner
Prosecutors seek 30 years for Frenchman accused of murdering ex-partner
A French prosecutor on Friday requested 30 years in jail for a man accused of stabbing his former partner to death in 2021 despite her repeatedly warning the authorities he was harassing her after years of abuse.
A court in the southwestern city of Bordeaux was expected to issue its verdict later on Friday in a case her family's lawyer has described as a predictable murder.
On average, a woman is killed every three days in France.
In 2021, Sandra Pla several times reported her former partner as being abusive and harassing her, even writing a letter to President Emmanuel Macron to seek help.
On July 2, 2021, the body of the 31-year-old was found in a pool of blood at her home in Bordeaux with around 50 stab wounds, particularly to her neck and face.
Mickael Falou, 40, has admitted to killing Pla, his former partner and the mother of his daughter.
But he has during his trial since Wednesday denied premeditated murder and said he could not remember the moment he stabbed her.
Prosecutor Veronique Compan argued however that "he intended to go and kill Sandra Pla.
"He waited for her, he surprised her, he terrified her and he killed her."
In 2018, a year after the birth of their daughter, Pla began to confide in those close to her that Falou was being abusive.
She left him in January 2021, then obtained full custody of their daughter in May 2021.
She had for months complained that the father of her child was harassing her.
Compan said Pla's murder was a clear case of femicide the killing of a woman because of her gender, often by a partner or ex-partner and stressed the importance of fighting "against this plague".
Three days before her death, Falou had been arrested then released under judicial supervision, with an injunction to stay away from Pla.
The prosecutor said that the fact the murder occurred while Falou was supposedly being monitored looked "terrible" for the judiciary.
Lawyer Elsa Crozatier, who has been representing the mother, step-father and brother of the victim, has repeatedly said this was a predictable femicide.
She read an extract from a letter the victim wrote to the French president: "His rage is growing and increasingly threatening... Should I just wait around for something bad to happen to me?"
One of Falou's lawyers, Elena Badescu, however argued that her client had not killed Pla "because she was a woman" and that he was not possessive or jealous.
Several witnesses on Wednesday recounted how terrified the victim was.
Her parents had for a few months even moved in with her, and she had installed a doorbell with a security camera.
An expert on Thursday described Falou as being "incapable of empathy", and had been trying to portray himself as a victim.
Falou said he had broken into Pla's house at around 4:30 am on the day he killed her, and hidden until she returned after taking their daughter to school.
"I was totally desperate. I was obsessed with showing that they had made up false evidence" to get custody, he told the court.
In his closing statement, Falou said he was "haunted" by having killed his ex-partner, but between two sobs said he felt "misunderstood".
In 2023, 96 women were killed by their partners or ex-partners in France, a drop of 19 percent from 2022, according to the latest figures from the interior ministry.
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