Rashid Askari admitted to having killed his wife Razia Askari with nearly 20 stab wounds, in the middle of the street, in October 2018 in Besançon. His trial opened on Wednesday December 8 in Besançon and should last 3 days. Relive the second day of the trial in this article.

The second day of the trial was marked by the interrogation of the accused and the evaluation of his personality thanks to the intervention of various psychiatrists. For more than an hour, Rashid Askari meticulously and spontaneously detailed his story, his arrival in Europe and his relationship with his wife, whom he accuses of having had another man in his life in France and of having taken away his children. In a posture of victim, the father of the family, who was facing his two boys present on the bench of the civil parties, was confronted with his lies and confronted with his multiple versions. According to him, the various witnesses heard during this trial lied. The latter nevertheless admits having killed his wife but does not remember the scene and cannot explain the empty knife pouch found in his apartment in Besançon. "He has no guilt or remorse. The only thing what he saw was not seeing his children anymore. He never mentioned the fact of having orphaned their mother. He posed as a victim, drawing attention to the difficulties of his existence, in a egocentric dynamic" detailed the psychiatrist who was able to examine him during his incarceration in Besançon prison. Omid, the eldest of the two children, insisted on speaking at the bar and recalled the horror that his father was doing living with his mother since he was very young. "I want him to go to prison for as long as possible," he said.

The last day of the trial is dedicated to the arguments of the lawyers, the requisitions of the public prosecutor and the verdict.

Read the full course of the second day of trial:

6:07 p.m .: A personality investigator takes the stand. He is the last outside person to intervene in this trial. “I only have the version of the accused and I could not cross-check it with other testimonies” wishes to specify the investigator from the outset.

"I noticed that he liked to speak and talk about himself," he explains, detailing the main lines of the life of the accused, thus repeating information already given during the debates.

5:30 p.m.: personality interrogation of the accused

Rashid Askari is questioned about his childhood. He reiterates his regrets before the court. He says he cannot bear to have seen his child in front of him and not to have been able to talk to him and touch him.

4:50 p.m.: the victim's sister takes the stand

"My sister was a good person in the eyes of everyone, except for Rashid, who always called her a whore. With her death, we are destroyed. My sister was not violent" says the young woman of sobs in the voice, with the help of the interpreter.

According to the victim's sister, Rashid Askari did not lose his father when he was a child, but at the age of 24. It confirms that the accused married another woman in Iran while he was still married to the victim.

4:40 p.m .: "I want him to go to prison as long as possible"

Omid Askari, born in 2006, takes over the helm. He is the eldest son of Razia and Rashid Askari.

"I want him to go to prison for as long as possible for what he did and come to terms with what he did," the teenager said. "I was there, he lied" adds Omid Askari answering a question from President Husson.

The father begins to cry in his cubicle.

"My mother was a nice person, who did everything for her children, her family, to be able to live better. She always told me that she did not want us to live like her" concludes Omid.

The latter wishes to stay in France to study sport.

4:33 p.m .: no impairment of discernment according to the psychiatrist

Me Schwerdorffer, defense lawyer, questions the psychiatrist on the potential state of altered discernment of his client during the homicide.

"No, I don't think so. Because even in the state he was in, when he comes back to his normal state, he knows that he kicked and he wonders if it was lethal. or not" justifies the psychiatrist.

4 p.m.: "Egocentric dynamics"

A third psychiatrist is called to the stand. She examined Rashid Askari in 2019, when he was in disciplinary quarters, "potentially after a suicide attempt, but I did not have confirmation" specifies the expert.

"He did not deny the facts, but we did not find an appropriate reaction to the acts he committed. No guilt, no remorse. The only thing he saw was not seeing his children anymore. He never mentioned the fact of having made them motherless. He posed as a victim, drawing attention to the difficulties of his existence, in an egocentric dynamic" details the psychiatrist.

He never said he missed his wife, according to the expert. He did not realize that it was his behavior that had landed him in prison. "He didn't seem to have learned anything from his experience."

"Lack of empathy", "aggressive manipulation", "intolerance of frustration" are also words attached to Askari's personality by this third psychiatrist. The latter answers a question from President Husson and hypothesizes that the accused was furious "because his wife persisted in leaving him".

3:30 p.m.: "Tendency to victimize oneself"

A second expert, a psychiatrist this time, reports the "difficulty of knowing if Mr. Askari's words are true".

"He tends to victimize himself. He invokes oversights, white veils, persecutions. He reports a narcissistic fragility. At the marital level, the breakup requested by his wife seems to have been unbearable for him from a point of view. emotional and narcissistic view" notes the one who was able to examine the accused during his incarceration.

3 p.m.: the psychiatric profile of the accused

The hearing resumes with the hearing at the bar of a psychologist, the first to have examined the accused. It reports on comments made by Rashid Askari. The latter told him about his childhood and his story.

Rashid Askari was born on January 1, 1980 in Afghanistan. His father was military and violent with him. He allegedly died a violent death when he was 15. His mother would have died of cancer a year earlier, according to him.

Rashid Askari went to school from the age of 8 to 12, a typical school career in Afghanistan. He told her about his journey to leave Afghanistan, his asylum applications, then the rest of his journey and his relationship with his wife as he did in court earlier in the day.

The psychologist describes his remarks as "clumsy, but logical speech" and suspects a potential "paranoid delirium", specifying that it is only a hypothesis.

- Sitting interrupted until 2:45 p.m. -

The couple's two children want to speak this afternoon.

1:20 p.m.: questions from the defense lawyers

Me Monnot, defense lawyer, has his client confirm that he did not know what state his wife was in after attacking her with a knife. The latter contacted several people to find out if she was alive or not.

"Do you think your wife exaggerated in her complaints to be able to separate from you in France?" Me Schwerdorffer asks his client. "I think that with these complaints she wanted to present me as someone bad" replies the accused, translated by his interpreter.

The lawyer from Besançon addresses the question of the tape from a video surveillance camera showing Mrs. Askari vehement towards Mr. Askari. He also questions the accused about the empty knife sheath found in his home. "I don't remember," Rashid Askari said.

"Haven't you completely lost your footing?" asks the defense lawyer to his client. “No, I just wanted to see Razia and ask her for an explanation,” replies Rashid Askari, contradicting his initial remarks. He had confessed earlier in the morning "to have gone crazy".

1:09 p.m .: a damning suicide letter sent to his children

"France is a racist and fascist country," wrote Rashid Askari in a suicide note sent to his children while he was in prison. "I wrote that because in France I was treated like garbage" justifies the accused.

Étienne Manteaux questions the accused on his will or not to kill his wife and reminds the memories of the mystical remarks made by the accused in his letter: "with gods do you want some here!".

"Was it an accident? The real culprit is Razia's sister, you wrote it in your letter" questions the Advocate General. "Yes, I wasn't well..." said the accused timidly in the face of the questions.

The Advocate General also reminds Rashid Askari that he insinuated that his children were responsible for the death of their mother.

1 p.m.: Photos of weapons and an Islamic State flag on the defendant's phone

The Advocate General, Étienne Manteaux, addresses the issue of Mr. Askari's financial resources. "How did he return to Iran to get married, and where did the ceremonial clothes come from if the gentleman only earned 200 euros?"

Photos were found on Rashid Askari's phone. It shows an Islamic State flag and pictures of armed children, large wads of banknotes and knives. "It's a phone that was not mine, it was second-hand" replies the accused, while specifying "it does not concern me". Wry laughter in the room.

The files in question were downloaded on August 11, 2018, specifies the Advocate General who confronts the accused with his contradictions on many points.

12:50 p.m.: stunned reaction in the room

"Where did the knife come from?" asks Me Rigoulot. "It was the knife my wife had with her," Rashid Askari replies, provoking a stunned reaction from the audience.

12:45 p.m .: Has Rashid Askari sought legal permission to see his children?

Me Rigoulot, lawyer for the sister and brother of Razia Askari questions the accused about his supposed desire to be able to see his children.

"My life was my children, my dreams were my children. I was a single man who did not speak French. Neither the police nor the assistants helped me to make the files to see my children" replies the man, who nevertheless managed to file asylum applications, crossed several countries, mobilized several members of the Afghan community to help him and benefited from a free interpreter.

12:35 p.m.: the issue of violence against children

"I'm not saying that my children are liars" replies the accused, faced with a question from Me Party, lawyer for the children of Razia Askari, who seeks to know if the man has already been violent with his children. He denies the violence against his children, despite their statements to investigators.

The 12- and 15-year-olds are still in the room and show admirable calm and restraint.

We hear several gasps in the audience, visibly tired of hearing Rashid Askari's justifications.

12:30 p.m .: Rashid Askari confesses to killing his wife, but denies everything else

"Can he explain what he did by slitting his wife's throat?" asks the president of the court. "Today, I can't believe it was me who did this. I had a white veil in front of my eyes" replies the accused.

He explains that his wife lied about the marital rape. The president of the court seems unconvinced by the course of events drawn up by Rashid Askari and especially by the fact that the latter contradicts the versions of all the witnesses heard earlier.

He also denies having threatened to kill the victim. "How did Razia Askari know she was going to have her throat cut?" asks President Husson.

"I think my wife was saying bad things about me to tarnish my image, so that I had to leave," replied the accused. "Wouldn't it also be because you threatened her if she didn't come back with you?" insists the president in particular. “Never” adds Rashid Askari.

The president points to the fact that all the witnesses who saw him on the day of the homicide found him "in a normal state". "It's wrong, I had lost control," he said.

"Why did you have a knife?" asks the president. "I didn't have a knife."

12:10 p.m.: “I apologize to everyone here”

He admits that he lost his mind and went crazy after receiving the phone call from his wife's alleged boyfriend. He says he followed his wife on the tram. As a reminder, Razia's relatives never knew about this boyfriend.

He pulled out a stab and he was "so pissed off" he doesn't know what he did at the time.

"I apologize to all the people here. I wanted to give my children a good life. I've been in prison for 3 years. I don't even have a picture of my children" he said crying to the yard.

That was the story of my life. Today, I can't look my children in the eye. I will accept whatever you decide."

11:57 am: a diametrically opposed version of the facts

Rashid Askari explains that he agreed to divorce, that he just wanted to see the children.

His version of the facts is diametrically opposed to that of the various witnesses heard the day before and of the victim Razia Askari during his numerous complaints.

He talks several times about gifts he was trying to give the children, which were refused by his wife. "I had saved 160 euros to buy this gift for my children and my wife threw it away" explains the man.

According to his statement, his wife told him one day that he "no longer needed" him and told him that he could "rot outside". He explains that he has since sunk into cannabis and alcohol, especially in prison.

11:20 am: Chronological and precise explanations The accused paints the portrait of a grieving husband. He has been thoroughly explaining his situation to the court for more than an hour, describing the facts chronologically, without forgetting many details. He uses no notes and seems to list the facts without question.

He says that the interpreter of Razia Askari lied in court the day before about him. The latter had specified that the man had come into contact with her via Facebook but also that he was very intelligent and knew the laws.

The accused specifies that he did not recognize his wife when he arrived in Besançon, when he met her on the tram. "I had no problem with Razia, I just wanted to see the children," said the accused. He says he called a lot of people, to try to get news of his wife and children whom he no longer saw and of whom he had no news.

He then recounts having found an Afghan to help him understand a letter he had received in his mailbox in Marseille, concerning his son's hospitalization. It is this famous letter, sent by the CPAM of Doubs, which allowed him to understand that his wife and children were in Besançon.

11:15 am: "If you find the slightest wound on my body..."

The accused gives details of everyday life, sometimes causing amazement in the room, especially on the side of the employees of the association Solidarité Femmes.

He recounts the context of his first police custody, following a complaint from his wife. "The policeman explained to me that my wife had filed a complaint against me because I was violent towards my wife, that I hit my wife and my children."

"In front of everyone, today, I can show you my body. If you find the slightest wound on my body, I will accept what you inflict on me," explains Rashid Askari. When he left GAV, he says he did not ask his wife why she had filed a complaint, because "he was very tired".

His wife allegedly told him that it was not her who had contacted the police, but that his children had reported their father at school.

As a reminder, the words of the man born in 1980 are translated to the court.

The accused denies the violence

11 a.m.: The accused denies the violence but admits to having "gone crazy"

"How could I rape my wife in a 12m2 room in the presence of my children?" said the accused. He admits to having broken his wife's phone, as well as his own phone, one evening but following a purely verbal argument.

According to him, it was his wife who contacted him when she was in Toulon. The accused says his eldest son was a bit aggressive with him and refused to take him on the phone. "But I didn't know why," he said. The father of the family then goes to Toulon, according to his words. The short, grizzled man with neatly trimmed hair explains that it was his wife who sent him to Marseilles, before she agreed to join him there.

"Omid showed his displeasure and asked me why I was there. I tried to calm him down," said the man, who said he had applied for asylum in Marseille.

"I never understood what happened, I was just told that my wife didn't want to be with me anymore." The accused denies the violence. He admits to having hacked into his wife's phone. He could thus listen to the conversations of his wife, in particular those which she had with her sister Shazia.

The accused says he went crazy when he found that his wife no longer wanted to be with him, "having lost her way". "Every time I called my wife, she didn't answer, she hung up. I spent 20 days like that," he says.

10:35 am: The accused speaks under the gaze of his children

The man says he noticed that his wife was distant when he arrived in Italy. The family then left for Paris, according to the statements of the accused. The latter addresses the question of another man in the life of his wife and lends words to his children, in particular the eldest Omid, who reproduces a "no" of the head.

"Today I lost my wife, my children, so I want to tell the whole truth" said the accused in a trembling voice, finally bursting into tears.

The latter accuses the victim's sister of having wanted to extract money from him.

"In 2014 I arrived in Italy. I worked a little, I didn't earn much, but I sent money and gifts to my wife and children. I sent a bicycle for my son, some make-up for my wife" says the accused who begins by speaking freely, in a fine voice, translated by his interpreter. He details the steps he took in Italy to obtain papers, then to bring his wife and children to Europe.

The children, present in front of him on the civil party side, vigorously shake their heads several times to show that their father's words are false.

9:40 am: members of the Afghan community interviewed

Several members of the Afghan community take the stand this Thursday morning.

The second witness is a restorer. He runs an Afghan specialty restaurant in the Marulaz district of Besançon. He met Mr. Askari one day when the accused sat down at a table to drink tea. The manager does not speak French well and struggles to understand the president's questions.

The first witness questioned by President Husson this Thursday morning met Mr. Askari in July 2018. "He was in the street, so I tried to support and encourage him. He had a good relationship with people around I, on the other hand, what was happening in his family, I am not aware of" explains the man, a member of the Afghan community.

The accused must be questioned in the morning, if the schedule is respected.

The first day of the trial made it possible to better understand the ordeal experienced by Razia Askari and her two children, present in the courtroom on the first day of the trial. The abuse suffered by the mother, who died of 19 stab wounds, was reported by several witnesses, including the social worker from the Solidarité Femmes association as well as her translator, who became the victim's confidant.

The accused offered a brief apology and remained headlong in his cubicle.

You can read the full day one schedule here.