Suspended prison and fines requested on appeal for the destruction of protected turtles on a construction site in Corsica

Six months suspended prison sentence and 150.000 euros fine were requested Wednesday before the Bastia Court of Appeal against the entrepreneur Patrick Rocca, accused of having destroyed Hermann's tortoises and their habitat on a construction site in Grosseto- Pugna (South Corsica).

Recalling that Hermann tortoises have been present in Corsica "for 1,8 million years" and practically more than on the island with a few specimens in the Var, the attorney general asked the court to "confirm the guilt" of Patrick Rocca and his company Fortimmo and to maintain the sentences handed down at first instance.

The Hermann's tortoise is classified as vulnerable on the national red list of threatened species and protected at international, European and French level.

Patrick Rocca was sentenced in January 2023 by the Ajaccio criminal court to a fine of 150.000 euros and six months suspended prison sentence for unauthorized mutilation and destruction of a protected animal species, for the alteration and destruction of their habitat, between December

2019 and March 2020 on a construction site of 162 housing units, south of the Gulf of Ajaccio.

His company Fortimmo, also prosecuted for unauthorized interference with the conservation of the natural habitat of a protected species, was ordered to pay a fine of 500.000 euros. Confirmation of this fine was requested on appeal.

“I am before you to try to demonstrate my good faith”, assured Patrick Rocca at the helm, ensuring that he had “abstained from any procedure”.

“I did not fail”, insisted the entrepreneur who specified that his group weighs around 600 million euros, includes 127 companies including 126 in Corsica and employs 2.400 employees, one of the largest employers in the island.

The three defense lawyers, Philippe Gatti, Jean-Marc Fevrier and Alexandre Plantevin, once again asserted nullities justifying, according to them, the cancellation of the procedure. They then pleaded for acquittal, arguing that “no criminal wrongdoing” could be attributed to their client.

For the civil party, Me Martin Tomasi, lawyer for the environmental defense association U Levante, also pleaded for confirmation of the damages awarded at first instance, namely 500.000 euros for the State and 30.000 euros for the 'association.

The judgment was reserved until September 11 at 14:00 p.m.