Killer Caught

The killer of the Vietnamese girl who was pushed down a staircase in the Paris subway on December 27 has been caught. His name is not available. Novopress has published several comments from readers of the daily Le Parisien:

The arrest this morning (Monday, January 10) of the alleged killer of Vy-Anh, the young girl thrown down a staircase in the Etienne Marcel subway station has aroused many reactions on the Internet. Notably at the Le Parisien website, where one reader, Pierre, writes:

"Bravo to the police. But... is this another one who will be given three years only to be released after two months... so he can better continue to destroy the lives of decent people!"

Another reader, Zonek, goes further:

"It isn't enough to arrest this man, if indeed he committed the homicide. They must also arrest his family and friends, who recognized him perfectly well from the photos that were published, but who said nothing to the police. They are guilty and must now take responsibility for their decisions. This is the only way to bring this collective cowardice to an end."

Another reader gives some advice:

"The corridors of the interchange at the Nation subway stop, lines 1, 2, 6, and 9, are infested with thieves. They can act with complete impunity because the surveillance cameras are not there. Be careful!"

It is especially important to be careful since about one hundred female pickpockets operating in the Paris subway have just been set free. This outpouring of reactions demonstrates the extent to which justice and security are two very important topics in the eyes of French people.

On December 28, 2010, Novopress had reported on the release of the girls:

Nicknamed the "little thieves", a hundred adolescent girls accused of pickpocketing in the Paris subway have all been released according to Le Parisien. They had been arrested by the police at the end of November. These delinquents worked for the Hamidovic clan - a group of Roma gypsies from Bosnia, implanted near Rome, Italy. One year of criminal activity netted four million euro for this mafia.

The girls made between 200 and 500 euro a day. Each week, Fehim Hamidovic would send his emissaries to France to collect the money, especially in Perpignan, a city particularly affected by immigration and nomadic crime. This network of gypsies could be responsible for 75% of pickpocket crimes in the Paris subway.

Le Parisien adds this bit of information:

The clan leaders recruited the girls from Bosnia-Herzegovina. They were then "trained" in France and had to fulfill a contract obligation of 300 euros per day per girl. If they did not make this amount, "they were beaten, burned with cigarettes and sometimes raped," according to investigators.

In the latest update from François Desouche, the killer was turned in to authorities by his girlfriend:

(...) the girlfriend of the suspect who was arrested Monday morning admitted that this man, a native of Cayenne, had confided in her and had confessed to pushing the victim to her death. He made the same revelations to a male friend.