On June 8, 2019, the two victims, Kamel Benstaali, 34, and Omar Azzouz, 29, were working on the rehabilitation of the La Source housing estate in Epinay-sur-Seine, a 478-unit housing project whose lessor is Plaine Commune Habitat .
Recruited shortly before the tragedy, they were working on the thermal renovation, from the outside, of the 18th floor of a building when the nacelle on which they were was detached. Neither was trained to work at height.
Seven men aged 37 to 61 and three construction companies have been tried since Monday in Bobigny, in particular for manslaughter and concealed work.
A large majority of the defendants' lawyers pleaded for release on Thursday.
They face up to five years in prison and a fine of 75.000 euros.
Bobigny prosecutor Alix Bukulin on Wednesday demanded a two-year suspended sentence and a 5.000 euro fine against the manager of the SRI company and his site manager who had hired the two victims.
For the expert who was to verify the conformity of the installation of the nacelle, a suspended sentence of eighteen months in prison, including eight months, was requested.
"He admitted not having carried out the static test" of the nacelle, declared his lawyer Me Juliette Lévy-Bissonnet but "he knew that this control was of no great use", added his advice.
"A static test carried out at two meters would not have identified any defects on the 18th floor," says his lawyer.
An expert report pointed to "a lack of anchoring" of the platform.
The company Isore Bâtiment, which had won the market for the rehabilitation of part of the city for seven million euros, and the two subcontracting companies blamed the company SRI "approved to work on a construction site", said said a defense attorney.
Specializing in thermal insulation, the company SRI has been liquidated and its manager is on the run in Egypt.
The victims had lived in France for three years. Kamel Benstaali, of Algerian nationality was to marry soon. A few days before the tragedy, "he was working in the markets", had confided Me Jean-Philippe Feldman, the lawyer for the two families of the victims. Omar Azzouz, of Moroccan nationality, was a plasterer.
The two workers "were not declared on the day of the events but two days after their death", had specified the prosecutor of Bobigny.