Youths in court for stoning woman to death

AIX EN PROVENCE, France, April 10, 2007 (AFP) – Two French youths went on trial Tuesday in southern France accused of killing a young Franco-Tunisian woman by stoning her to death.

The body of 23-year-old Ghofrane Haddaoui was discovered on a patch of wasteland in the north of the Mediterranean city of Marseille in October 2004, her skull battered in by rocks.

An autopsy revealed that she had received more than 30 blows to the head, powerful enough to rip out several of her teeth.

Two youths, now aged 20 and 19, are charged with the brutal murder. A third, aged 20, is accused of failure to report a crime.

One of the murder suspects initially confessed to the crime, saying Haddaoui had refused his advances, before retracting his statement to police. Each now accuses the other of responsibility.

The charge of murder carries a maxiumum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, although the trial jury may decide to halve the sentence on the grounds that both were minors at the time. The verdict is due on friday.

Subject: French news