Paris – Two French nationals who ran down and killed a Israeli woman with their SUV during a visit to Tel Aviv and then fled to France to avoid prosecution face a Paris criminal court on Thursday.
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The death of Lee Zeitouni, 25, who was crossing a street in a pedestrian zone in September 2011 when she was hit by the speeding SUV, has enflamed public opinion in Israel.
The incident spurred a diplomatic row between Israel and France, which would not extradite the two men to Israel to face trial there because France does not extradite its nationals.
The driver, Eric Robic, 40, who had left a nightclub just before the incident, is being tried on charges of aggravated involuntary homicide and non-assistance to a person in need.
He risks 10 years in prison and a 150,000 euros fine(118,807 pounds). The passenger, Claude Khayet, 35, is charged with non-assistance to a person in need. He could be sentenced to up to 5 years in prison and a 75,000 euros fine.
“He was a coward. He’s there to explain himself and ask for pardon,” Khayet’s lawyer, Regis Meliodon, told Reuters.
The two men boarded a flight a few hours afterwards to France, where they have acknowledged the facts, but deny going through a red light.
Robic and Khayat are currently in jail pending a separate French investigation into organised fraud and money-laundering.
Robic, who was convicted in April in another fraud case, has six other convictions on his record, including for driving under the influence.