Two former directors of the Shipyards Department were charged at the end of June with involuntary manslaughter due to negligence in the security of personnel who allegedly “inadvertently caused” the death of fifteen people, including eleven French people in 2002 during the Karachi (Pakistan) attack. , AFP learned on Friday from a source familiar with the matter.

Gérard C., site manager, and Alain Y., project manager for the Agosta 90B submarine contracts, are suspected of underestimating the threats to company employees.

They were also prosecuted for unintentional injuries, according to this source, which confirms information from the World. These first accusations announced in this part of the investigation open the prospect of a trial.

Security protocols “inadequate” to the threat level

According to the anti-terrorist investigating judges in Paris, Gérard C. would have put in place an “inadequate” security protocol, in particular when traveling between the place of residence and the construction site of the submarines, which would allow the personnel to be easily identified. and its routes. His superior Alain Y. would have “validated” this protocol.

Therefore, they would have “underestimated” the risks of attacks against the employees present on the site, while the security context in the region had “degraded” particularly since the attacks of September 11, 2001 with the multiplication of targeted attacks to foreigners. interests.

According to Me Marie Dosé, a lawyer for civil parties, interviewed by AFP, “these accusations were highly anticipated by (their) clients, who initiated the complaint filed more than 10 years ago against DCN: The flagrant breaches of security obligations incumbent on The bosses facilitated the attack: it was time for justice to finally act on this reality”.

An attack still unresolved

During a meeting in April, the three magistrates seized from the judicial information had informed the civil parties of the acts committed both in the strictly terrorist aspect and in that of the security breaches at that time.

After two decades, this attack has not been clarified and two theses collide. The attack appears to have been carefully staged with sophisticated means. And the trail of Al-Qaeda, which did not claim responsibility for the attack but approved it, was essential for the first anti-terrorist magistrate seized of the events, Jean-Louis Bruguière.

Since 2009, the investigation of his successor Marc Trevidic has been oriented towards the hypothesis of Pakistani reprisals after the cessation of payment of commissions in the framework of an arms contract.