The president-elect of El Salvador appealed to a French court on Thursday to find out how and why his son was fatally stabbed in a fight on a Paris bridge. The chief suspect pleaded for the family’s forgiveness.
“I am a man who is not seeking vengeance,” president-elect Mauricio Funes said to the presiding judge. “I am only seeking the truth.”
“The least we can hope for is to know the facts and establish who is responsible. All this won’t bring back my son, but I want to honor his memory,” Funes said.
Alejandro Funes, a photography student in Paris, died in October 2007 from wounds suffered in the fight on the Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge next to the Louvre Museum.
The chief suspect, Mohamed Amor, is accused of stabbing him in the temple with an awl. The motive for the attack is unclear.
Amor said earlier in the trial that he didn’t remember exactly what happened. His lawyer will present his plea at the end of the trial.
Gang violence in El Salvador fuels one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America, and Funes sent his son to France in part to be more secure.
“We thought that in France he would be safer. I could have never imagined that he would be beaten to death in this country,” Funes told the court.
Funes last spoke to his son the night before the attack, and Alejandro congratulated his father on being chosen as presidential candidate for El Salvador’s Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front. Funes won the presidential election in March.
Alejandro had planned to return to El Salvador after finishing his French studies.
“Amor apologized to the family.
“I never wanted to kill him,” he said. “Forgive me.”
Amor he faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty. Another suspect is on trial for participating in the attack.
The testimony began on Tuesday and was expected to wrap up yesterday. It was unclear when a verdict was expected.
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