The fourth day of the trial of the bombing of the French military camp Bouakéen in 2004 was marked by unparalleled information given to the bar by a soldier’s widow regarding the black boxes on the planes used for the raid.
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces at the time, General Bentégeat, confirmed that the black boxes on the devices used for the raid on November 6, 2004 “were never recovered by a French soldier”. But on the fourth day of trial before the Paris Assize Court, Elisabeth Capdeville, widow of Chief Warrant Officer Philippe Capdeville, pointed out another leadership she would have killed since 2006, and appointed General Destremau, former commander of the combined army tactical group Bouaké (GTIA)
My client explained that to the wife of General Destremau in 2006, just before her departure from RICM [Régiment d’infanterie chars de marine, ndlr], had explained to him so quickly and without further ado that her husband had the two black boxes on the plane in his office, Patricia Coutant, Mrs. Capdeville’s lawyer, explained on Thursday. She had this information and I think she refused to believe it for a very long time and told herself that it was necessarily wrong, that it was not possible. She works in the army, so it’s still very complicated to tell yourself that this information is correct. And she decided to put it aside and to tell the truth, when she heard the report at the beginning of the hearing on facts, the presiding judge mentioned the black boxes, and at that time it came back to her and she said to herself: “Me, I have another version”. And since the beginning of the trial, she’s just thinking about it. These important statements have been carefully noted. They will be repeated during the hearing in the next few days. I think we will ask questions on this subject. And then we’ll see what comes out of it. Thereafter, nothing prevents the Assize Court from ordering further information, ie new investigations, which would unfortunately force this trial to be postponed. But now anything is possible. We can also imagine Mrs Destremau showing up at this bar to ask her the question. ”
On November 6, 2004, two fighters from the Ivorian loyalist army trying to regain control of the north of the country bombed a military camp in Bouaké by the French peacekeepers responsible for buffering between the two camps. This surprise attack killed nine French soldiers and a US civilian, leaving about 40 wounded.
The investigation failed to determine who gave the order to bomb the French and why. General Destremau will be heard on Friday, April 2 as a witness.
► Read also: Bouaké case: witnesses remember the bombing on the first day of the trial
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