The year 2025 is not going to be calm in the French courts. From the Libyan financing trial, through the Rio-Paris crash to various events which marked the French such as the disappearance of Delphine Jubillar, 20 Minutes takes stock of the major trials but also the judgments which will mark the year. 2025 sees trials that have marked French news over the last twenty years. A historic year.
Nicolas Sarkozy
A regular in the courts, the former President of the Republic is currently attending his trial in the case of Libyan financing of his 2007 campaign from January 6 to April 10. He is being prosecuted for “passive corruption”, “concealment of embezzlement of public funds”, “illegal financing of an electoral campaign” and “criminal association”.
Chopper attack in front of Charlie Hebdo
The trial of six men for the chopper attack outside the former Charlie Hebdo premises in September 2020 opened until January 24. Zaheer Mahmood attacked and injured two employees of the Premières Lignes press agency in front of the building’s door, trying to target Charlie Hebdo. The accused will be tried for attempted terrorist assassinations before the Paris juvenile court. Five other people will appear for criminal terrorist association.
Attack on the Nice basilica
From February 10 to 28, the Paris Assize Court will judge Brahim Aouissaoui, assailant of the Nice basilica attack. On October 29, 2020, he entered the basilica and killed three people. This young Tunisian brandished his knife while shouting “Allah Akbar” before being injured and arrested.
Joel Le Scouarnec
Former digestive surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec will appear from February 24 to June 27 for 229 rapes before the Vannes Assize Court. The accused allegedly committed rape on mostly minor victims during decades of medical practice. For thirty years, he recorded the sexual abuse inflicted on his victims in notebooks. Sentenced in December 2020 to fifteen years of criminal imprisonment for sexual assault and rape against four people, he appealed. He now faces twenty years of criminal imprisonment.
Nordahl Lelandais
On February 26 at the Charleville-Mézières court, Nordahl Lelandais will be tried on appeal for sexual assault on his little cousin. He was sentenced at first instance on January 12, 2024 to one year in prison.
Suicide of Evaëlle
A historic trial since for the first time, Evaëlle’s French teacher will be judged from March 10 to 11 by the Pontoise criminal court. She is accused of having harassed and “humiliated” the young Evaëlle who ended her life at the age of 11, in 2019.: trial of her French teacher.
Gérard Depardieu
On March 24 and 25, Gérard Depardieu will be tried by the Paris court for accusations of sexual assault that occurred during the filming of the film “Les Volets verts” on two actresses. The actor, already involved in other similar cases, faces five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.
Magnanville attack
Mohamed Lamine Aberouz will be retried from May 26 to June 20 before the Paris Assize Court for complicity in the assassination of a couple of police officers in Magnanville in 2016, shot dead by Larossi Abballa, killed by the Raid. He was initially sentenced to life imprisonment.
Disappearance of Delphine Jubillar
In September the trial for the murder of Delphine Jubillar, who disappeared in 2020, will begin before the Toulouse Assize Court. His companion, Cédric Jubillar, is accused of having killed the mother of his two children who has not been seen since December 2020. The trial will have to prove the criminal act despite the absence of a body.
Crash du Rio-Paris
From September 29 to November 27, Airbus and Air France will be tried on appeal for involuntary manslaughter in the crash of the Rio-Paris flight which took place in 2009, costing the lives of 228 people.
Lafarge
The Lafarge group will be on trial for financing terrorism in Syria from November 4 to December 9. The cement manufacturer is suspected of having paid 5 million euros between 2013 and 2014 to jihadist groups including the Islamic State to be able to maintain the activity of its factory. Without specific dates yet, three trials should also hit the headlines this year.
Murder of Lola
The trial of Dahbia Benkired, tried for the murder of 12-year-old Lola, will take place at the end of the year. This news item which has caused a lot of ink to be spilled will once again be at the center of the news. Dahbia Benkired will be tried for “murder of a minor aged 15 accompanied or preceded by rape, torture or barbaric acts as well as for rape committed against a minor with torture or barbaric acts”, in accordance with her requisitions. Dahbia Benkired faces life imprisonment.
The little martyr of the A10
Nearly forty years after the events, Ahmed Touloub and Halima El Bakhti will be tried for the murder of their daughter. In 1987, the body of a four-year-old girl was discovered on the side of the A10 motorway. Three decades and a DNA sample taken from his brother, arrested in connection with a case of violence, finally solved the case.
Celebrities in turmoil
Many public figures will also face justice, in the dock or as plaintiffs.
Stéphane Plaza
The flagship host of M6 is on trial on January 9 before the Paris criminal court for “habitual physical and/or psychological violence by a partner” against two women, between August 2018 and September 2022.
Eric Zemmour
The polemicist and politician, Éric Zemmour will be on trial on February 12 for contesting crimes against humanity, on February 12. He claimed on the CNews channel in 2013 that Marshal Pétain had “saved” French Jews during the Second World War.
Zazou Youssef
The influencer is accused of having incited in a video to commit attacks in France against opponents of the Algerian regime. He will be tried on February 24 for public apology of an act of terrorism.
Magali Berdah
Booba returns to the forefront… in court for his defamation trial on March 7 against Magali Berdah who accuses him of being a “pack leader” and of cyberharassment.
Dylan Robert
The revelation of the cinema will be judged on March 14 in Marseille for carjacking on March 14. The 2019 César for Best Newcomer is already detained and sentenced to four years in prison for theft, he is also indicted for murder and attempted murder by an organized gang.
Kim Kardashian
Twelve people will appear for the 6 million euro robbery suffered by Kim Kardashian in 2016 from April 28 to May 23. The robbers, who posed as police officers, broke into the American star’s suite in a luxury Parisian hotel.
Brigitte Macron
Four men will be tried on July 10, 2025 by the Paris criminal court, suspected of having cyberharassed in a sexist manner the first lady Brigitte Macron who filed a complaint in August 2024.
Dylan Thiry
Trial for the ex-reality TV star suspected of having embezzled humanitarian funds on October 20. The influencer is being prosecuted for “breach of trust”, and accused of having diverted donations intended to finance humanitarian trips to Madagascar.
Koba LaD
The artist’s judgment for kidnapping his former manager will be rendered on January 13. A year in prison is required against the rapper already incarcerated for a fatal accident in Créteil.
Jean-Marc Morandini
The host will hear his judgment on appeal for sexual harassment on January 27. On March 7, the appeal judgment for corruption of minors will be rendered.
Christophe Ruggia
The criminal court will deliver its judgment on February 3 in the trial for “sexual assault on a minor” against the filmmaker Christophe Ruggia. A five-year prison sentence, including two years, was requested against the director for alleged sexual assault on Adèle Haenel when she was between 12 and 14 years old.
Cyril Hanouna
Television host Cyril Hanouna was tried on December 17, 2024 before the Paris criminal court for insults uttered on the set of his show Touche pas à mon poste (TPMP) on C8 against LFI deputy Louis Boyard. Cyril Hanouna faces a fine of €12,000. The decision will be made on February 20.
Marine Le Pen
RN leader Marine Le Pen, her party and 24 other people appeared from September 30 to November 27, 2024 before the Paris criminal court for embezzlement of European funds. The defendants are being prosecuted for embezzlement of public funds, complicity and concealment of public funds. They risk up to ten years in prison, a fine of 1 million euros and five years of ineligibility. The RN, as a legal entity, must answer for complicity and concealment of misappropriation of public funds. On March 31, the verdict will be delivered.
Rue d’Aubagne
After six weeks of hearing at the Marseille criminal court at the end of 2024 for the trial of the collapse of the buildings on rue d’Aubagne, a tragedy which caused the death of eight people, on November 5, 2018, the judgment will be rendered on July 7.
