Myra Bronstein Wrote:Here's the transcript of Abdelatif Redjil and Belkacem Bouzid's testimony to the English Warren Commission:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.u...1107pm.htm
12 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Could you outline who
13 the witnesses are?
14 MR BURNETT: The first two are Abdelatif Redjil and
15 Belkacem Bouzid. Sir, those are names that will be
16 familiar to everybody and who appear in the photographs
17 that we have seen. Each of them came on the scene of
18 the crash very shortly thereafter and give evidence of
19 what they saw.
20 The third and fourth will be Lino Gagliardone and
21 Bruno Bouaziz, again names that I suspect are now
22 familiar to the jury. Both are police officers who came
23 to the scene fairly shortly after the crash.
24 The last is a statement of Police Lieutenant
25 Eric Gigou, who provides a report on the question of
1 CCTV cameras and speed cameras.
2 In accordance with the relevant rules,
3 the interested persons were notified of these in advance
4 and all are content that they should be read.
5 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Very well. Now, you had better
6 tell me which bundle I find each one in.
7 MR BURNETT: Yes, sir. If I identify each as we go along.
8 For your purposes, Mr Redjil's statement is at page 246
9 of legal bundle 1.
10 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Thank you. Yes.
11 Statement of ABDELATIF REDJIL (read)
12 MR BURNETT: Now, sir, this was a statement taken by Police
13 Lieutenant Gigou at 1700 hours on 16th June 1998.
14 Mr Abdelatif Redjil confirmed his name and gave his
15 date of birth as 10th December 1955 and explained that
16 he was a French national.
17 Then, sir, perhaps I could say that it is in exactly
18 the same form as many others that we have heard:
19 "As to the facts, I note that I am being interviewed
20 as a witness under the provisions of Letter Rogatory ...
21 issued on 2nd September 1997 by M Herve Stephan,
22 examining magistrate at Paris Regional Court in the case
23 of Arnal, Arsov, Langevin, Martinez, Rat and Veres on
24 charges of non-assistance to persons in danger,
25 involuntary manslaughter and injury leading to a total
1 incapacity for work in excess of three months.
2 "I am indeed a witness of the accident that took
3 place in the Alma Tunnel on the night of 30th to
4 31st August 1997, which claimed the life most notably of
5 the Princess of Wales.
6 "That evening, I was at the Place de l'Alma with my
7 friend Belkacem Bouzid, who has already been interviewed
8 by your department.
9 "We were on foot.
10 "I was wearing a green jacket and faded blue jeans.
11 My friend Belkacem may have been dressed in black, I do
12 not remember too clearly. In any event, he would have
13 been wearing a jacket and tie and I think his jacket was
14 dark.
15 "You inform me that Belkacem in his statement says
16 that he was wearing a 'mustard jacket' and a 'red and
17 yellow' tie. I remember that now.
18 "At what I think was approximately 2345 hours or
19 midnight, we heard two 'booms', one after the other.
20 It was two muffled sounds of a car crashing. We could
21 not tell where it was coming from at first. We knew
22 that it had happened in the Alma Tunnel, but we did not
23 know in which direction.
24 "Belkacem and I immediately went into the tunnel.
25 We were the only ones there at that stage.
1 "As far as I was concerned, I did not see or hear
2 any vehicle prior to this crash, that is why we did not
3 know in what direction the accident had taken place.
4 "We jumped over a sort of low wall to go down into
5 the tunnel. That would be impossible now as barriers
6 have been erected at that spot since. We went down into
7 the right-hand carriageway, in the direction of Concorde
8 and Trocadero.
9 "On arriving in the tunnel, I immediately saw
10 the Mercedes. It was facing the wrong way, with its
11 bonnet towards the right-hand wall. Smoke was coming
12 from the bonnet and the horn was stuck on.
13 "The airbags were out.
14 "I remember seeing a dark-coloured car with two
15 people in it coming out of the tunnel in the right-hand
16 carriageway, it was travelling slowly, in the direction
17 of Trocadero.
18 "In front of the Mercedes, parked on the left, was
19 a motorbike.
20 "As I got down into the tunnel, I started to signal
21 to the cars that were approaching at speed to slow down.
22 "When I got to the Mercedes, I saw the driver, who
23 appeared to be dead, one of his hands was protruding
24 through the windscreen."
25 He then describes Trevor Rees.
1 "He was alive.
2 "In the back, I saw a man ... stretched out with his
3 back against the rear left-hand window."
4 He then describes Dodi Al Fayed.
5 "He was obviously dead."
6 "I tried to open the front right-hand door, but was
7 unable to do so.
8 "I managed to force open the rear right-hand door.
9 "There I saw the head of a woman, curled up between
10 the back of the front right-hand seat and the rear seat.
11 She was moving her left hand slightly. You could just
12 see her hair and clothing, which was black I think. She
13 was also wearing white trousers...
14 "She repeated words like 'My God, my God'. I tried
15 to reassure her, telling her in English not to worry,
16 'Don't worry'. She opened her eyes but she did not
17 answer me, she simply continued moving her hand.
18 I think she was unconscious. You could say that she was
19 in a sort of comatose state.
20 "As for Belkacem, he was talking to the injured man
21 in the front right-hand seat.
22 "While I was reassuring this young woman,
23 a photographer arrived. He came from the motorbike
24 parked in the tunnel. He seemed to be in a trance, and
25 did not stop taking photos using a flash as he went
1 forwards. He had a zoom lens and was going very quickly
2 in order to take lots of photos.
3 "He started insulting us, telling us not to touch
4 anything and that it was 'Princess Diana', he kept
5 repeating 'It's Lady Di, it's Lady Di!'.
6 "He jostled me and continued taking photos closer
7 and closer to the car.
8 "The chap who had been driving the motorbike that
9 the photographer had come from waited on the bike. He
10 did not take any pictures. I would be able to recognise
11 him if I saw him again.
12 "Shortly after we arrived, I saw a kind of
13 'SOS Medecins' car arriving from the opposite direction.
14 I went to see the driver and explained to him what was
15 going on and told him that one of the casualties was
16 the Princess of Wales. He replied that she was
17 a casualty like any other and quickly parked and came to
18 give assistance. He was accompanied by a slim young man
19 who waited near their vehicle, smoking a cigarette.
20 "Belkacem must have called the emergency services on
21 his mobile.
22 "Everything happened very quickly.
23 "Then people started arriving. I should add that
24 lots of cars were going past in the tunnel.
25 "I am positive however, that Belkacem and I were
1 the first two people to arrive in the tunnel, on foot,
2 just after the accident.
3 "As far as the emergency services are concerned,
4 the police arrived first, then the fire brigade and
5 lastly the SAMU.
6 "I did also briefly tell the SAMU crew what I knew
7 in order to be of assistance to them.
8 "I saw the firemen remove the dead and injured from
9 the car.
10 "In reply to your question, I did not touch anyone
11 else and I only held the Princess's hand.
12 "Reply to question: I did not see anybody touch
13 the occupants of the Mercedes.
14 "Reply to a question ... I should point out that
15 I have a first aid certificate, and that in view of the
16 condition that the two casualties were in, I chose to
17 leave it to the 'SOS' doctor who was passing, rather
18 than do something that might have made their condition
19 worse.
20 "On the carriageway opposite the accident, a traffic
21 jam started to form. There were increasing numbers of
22 people.
23 "Some other photographers arrived. I could see
24 their flashes through the pillars. I must even appear
25 in their photos.
1 "When the police arrived there were some scuffles.
2 As for Belkacem and myself, we were not troubled.
3 "The police officers started to take an interest in
4 what had taken place. Belkacem made himself known to
5 them. I elected to hang back.
6 "In fact, at the time, I was wanted by the police
7 and I was a little afraid that I might be arrested by
8 coming forward to make a statement. Moreover, my friend
9 Belkacem came forward as a witness and he had seen
10 the same things as me.
11 "The subsequent media coverage of events did little
12 to encourage me to come forward. In fact, Belkacem and
13 I were the first two eye witnesses on the scene and we
14 were afraid that we might be blamed for something in
15 view of what was being said in the press.
16 "I would reiterate that Belkacem and I went down
17 to the tunnel to assist the people involved in the
18 accident. We had no idea how important the casualties
19 would turn out to be.
20 "I later recognised the photographer I have
21 mentioned to you who is called 'Romuald' on television.
22 He is the one who insulted us.
23 "I recognised the doctor I stopped.
24 "You have shown me an album with 34 pictures. After
25 carefully examining it, I can tell you that ..."
1 Sir, before I read this, what propose to do is
2 simply identify the photographers concerned, to save
3 everyone turning up the photographs. The photographs
4 that the witness was shown are the police photographs of
5 the paparazzi which are in the jury's bundle at tab 6.
6 They are familiar now to everybody:
7 "The individual in photos 1 and 2 is vaguely
8 familiar."
9 Sir, that is Arnal.
10 "I recognised the one in photos 3 and 4, he was in
11 the tunnel."
12 Sir, that is Arsov.
13 "I do not recognise the one in photos 5 and 6... "
14 Sir, that is Benhamou.
15 "... or the one in photos 7 and 8."
16 Sir, that is Chassery:
17 "I think I recognise the one in photos 9 and 10. He
18 must have been in the tunnel."
19 That is Darmon.
20 "I do not recognise the one in photos 11 and 12."
21 That is Guizard.
22 "I am not sure that I recognise the one in photos
23 13/14."
24 Sir, that is Langevin:
25 "I do not recognise the one in photos 15 and 16 ..."
1 Sir, that is Martinez.
2 "... or those in photos 17 and 18 or 19 and 20."
3 Those, sir, are Odekerken and Suu.
4 "I do however, definitely recognise the individual
5 in photos 21 and 22... "
6 Sir, that is Rat.
7 "... he was a hothead, he was the one who insulted
8 us and took lots of photos; he even very nearly ended up
9 getting lynched by some of the people.
10 "I do not know the individuals in 23/24, 25/26 and
11 27/28 ..."
12 Sir, those are Selle, Sola and Tomic.
13 "... however I do definitely recognise the one in
14 photos 29 and 30... "
15 That, sir, is Veres.
16 "... he had a camera slung across his shoulder and
17 he was in the tunnel. He was taking photos calmly.
18 "I do not recognise the individuals in photos 31/32
19 and 33/34."
20 Sir, those two are Cardinale and Hounsfield.
21 "You have shown me a photo album containing pictures
22 of two-wheeled vehicles. After careful examination,
23 I can tell you that I do not recognise the motorbike
24 that I saw, or any other. I have to admit that I did
25 not pay any real attention to that kind of thing.
1 "I have not seen much of Belkacem since these
2 events.
3 "I have nothing to add. I remain at your disposal."
4 It then says:
5 "Having read the statement himself,
6 M Abdelatif Redjil agreed its contents and signed it
7 with me at 1900 hours."
8 Sir, that is that statement.
9 Statement of BELKACEM BOUZID (read)
10 The second statement is that of Belkacem Bouzid,
11 which was taken by Police Lieutenant Vincent Delbreilh
12 at 1555 hours on 29th September 1997.
13 He gave his name as Belkacem Bouzid. He gave his
14 date of birth as 24th January 1953 and he is a French
15 national.
16 "As to the facts: I note that I am being interviewed
17 as a witness under the terms of Letter Rogatory ...
18 issued on 2nd September 1997 by M Herve Stephan."
19 Then the form is the same that I read for the last
20 witness, sir.
21 "I do not know the names of the persons under
22 investigation, with the exception of Romuald Rat, who
23 I saw on television a few days after the event.
24 "On the night of Saturday 30th to Sunday
25 31st August 1997, I was at the Place de la Reine Astrid
1 in Paris 8 together with a friend, Mustapha, whose
2 surname I do not know.
3 "We were chatting, when all of a sudden I heard
4 a loud screeching of brakes followed by two very loud
5 bangs, the second even louder than the first, coming
6 from the direction of the Alma Tunnel, some 20 metres
7 away. I immediately realised that it was a serious
8 accident.
9 "The hooter was stuck on and was sounding
10 continuously.
11 "I ran with Mustapha in the direction of the tunnel.
12 I jumped over the low wall and then got a general view
13 of the scene in the tunnel: there was a large Mercedes
14 motor car with massive frontal damage and with smoke
15 coming out of the radiator. It had come to a stop
16 facing against the direction of the traffic, with its
17 front on the Place de la Concorde side.
18 "I rushed over to the crashed vehicle and, when
19 I got there I immediately saw that the driver was
20 crushed inside...
21 "I saw the front seat passenger ..."
22 He then goes on to describe him, being:
23 "... held in place by the safety belt, slumped over
24 the airbag. I saw that he was trapped inside
25 the vehicle and that it was impossible to get his door
1 open, and that therefore, it was best not to touch him.
2 "In the rear I saw a man aged around 40 ... and
3 I could see straightaway that he was dead.
4 "Alongside him, between the front right-hand side
5 seat and the rear seat, I could see the curled-up figure
6 of a blonde lady. She had a wound to her forehead and
7 the bracelet of her watch was undone. She was moaning
8 and said a few words in English, 'my God, my God',
9 I think ... Her shoes were still on her feet.
10 "I tried to open the lady's door with my friend
11 Mustapha, but we could not get it open.
12 "We were the first ones to try to open one of the
13 car's doors, that one being the one that looked to me
14 the easiest to open, but which nevertheless turned out
15 to be stubborn.
16 "I should add that when I went into the tunnel, at
17 the same time as I saw the crashed car, I also saw
18 flashes from cameras coming from the back of the car.
19 I was surprised, but nevertheless not unduly concerned
20 because I thought that the emergency services were
21 already there.
22 "However, on approaching the car I saw that there
23 were just photographers, four in number.
24 "As I tried to get the car door open, I asked one of
25 the photographers, specifically the fattest one among
1 them, who was near the car, what I should do.
2 "This fat photographer, who was taking focused shots
3 of the car, replied: 'Don't touch anything,
4 it's Princess Diana, she's with Dodi'.
5 "I then asked him again, 'What shall I do, what
6 shall I do?'.
7 "The fat photographer told me to get all the cars
8 back, which is what I did with Mustapha.
9 "In fact, whilst we were by the car, vehicles
10 arrived from the direction of Place de la Concorde and
11 a traffic jam started forming in the underpass.
12 "... When I went into the underpass, there were no
13 vehicles other than the crashed Mercedes either before
14 you got to the vehicle coming from Concorde, or after
15 it. I neither saw any cars nor motorbikes. I did not
16 see any vehicles leave.
17 "However, there were vehicles passing slowly on
18 the opposite carriageway to the one where the accident
19 had taken place.
20 "After having got the vehicles back, I returned to
21 the Mercedes and saw that some people had managed to
22 open the rear door and that Mustapha was holding
23 the Princess's hand. Someone who said he was a doctor
24 started to administer aid to the Princess.
25 "It was then that I heard one photographer say to
1 the others: 'No photos of the inside'.
2 "The photographers, whose numbers were increasing,
3 were all around the car, taking photos of it.
4 "Then, a police car arrived with two officers in
5 uniform, one of whom was powerfully built. I went over
6 to them and told them it was Lady Di and her
fiance.
7 "They got out of their car and started getting the
8 people pushed back.
9 "Then the fire brigade arrived, followed by
10 the SAMU. I saw the firemen getting Dodi's body out and
11 attempt to get him breathing again. I said to the SAMU
12 that they had to be quick, that it was Princess Diana.
13 "Some plain clothes police arrived and I gave my
14 details to one of them and left with Mustapha.
15 "As far as the photographers I saw when I arrived in
16 the tunnel are concerned, the one I saw most clearly and
17 to whom I spoke was a male, of European appearance, aged
18 about 30 to 35, of medium height, healthy looking, with
19 long black hair and no distinguishing features. He was
20 carrying a camera with a large zoom lens. I do not
21 remember how he was dressed.
22 "I would be able to recognise him, and did actually
23 do so when he appeared on television on France 3, it was
24 Romuald Rat. I am positive of this.
25 "He took several photographs, some of them close up
1 to the crashed vehicle.
2 "Another one of them was of European appearance,
3 short, of medium build and carrying a camera with
4 a large zoom lens. That is all I can say about him.
5 I may be able to recognise him.
6 "He took several photographs of the vehicle.
7 "I do not remember the other two. They also took
8 several pictures of the crashed vehicle.
9 "I have been shown a photo album comprising 34
10 pictures of the photographers.
11 "I recognise among them the person in pictures 21
12 and 22, it is Romuald Rat.
13 "I do not however recognise the other three
14 photographers who were at the scene when I reached
15 the tunnel.
16 "I do though recognise the bearded man in dungarees
17 in pictures 29 and 30 as a photographer who arrived
18 there a good while after the accident."
19 Sir, I propose just to remind you that that is
20 M Veres.
21 "I have also been shown a photo album containing
22 the pictures taken outside the Ritz Hotel.
23 "In these photos, I also recognise Mr Rat, and in
24 picture number 10, the bearded photographer wearing
25 dungarees.
1 "I do not recognise anyone else in them.
2 "In reply to your question, that evening I was
3 wearing a mustard-coloured smart jacket and a red and
4 yellow patterned tie."
5 He then gives a description of his friend, Mustapha,
6 and explains where he lives.
7 "I have nothing further to add other than that I did
8 what I could."
9 It then says:
10 "Having read his statement himself, M Bouzid agreed
11 its contents and signed it with me."
12 Then there are signatures of both Mr Bouzid and
13 Lieutenant Delbreilh.
