The owner of Biarritz (Pro D2) invoked “pardon” on Monday to justify the recruitment of international law pillar Mohammed Haouas, sentenced Friday, for the second time in less than two months, to a prison sentence for violence. While the former Montpellier player, refused by Clermont where he had signed a contract, has signed up with Biarritz for the next two seasons, Louis-Vincent Gave acknowledges, in a letter addressed to BO supporters, having received from many messages of disapproval after a decision that “shocked some”.
Towards a modified sentence?
The leader writes to understand “the disarray of certain supporters but does not share it”, adding that “among the foundations of our society, the most important is that of forgiveness”. “Before recruiting Mohammed, we spoke to his wife who told us: ‘thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving us a chance to be able to make a new start'”. Before being sentenced on Friday by the Montpellier Criminal Court to 18 months in prison, including nine firm, for a fight dating back almost 10 years, Haouas had already been sentenced in May, by the same court, to one year firm for hitting his wife outside the mall where she works.
The combination of the two sentences making his imprisonment possible, his lawyer Me Marc Gallix announced on Friday his intention to appeal. He thus hopes that his client will be able to serve the first in an adapted form (electronic bracelet or parental parole), while the Court of Appeal rules on the second.
A transferred court file
As a result of his next move to the Basque coast, the player’s legal file “will be transferred to the Bayonne sentence enforcement judge”, Me Gallix told AFP on Monday, confirming information from the Metropolitan site. “The competent judge to decide on the adjustment of sentence is the judge of the court where the convicted person resides,” he explained.
Before signing with Biarritz, the 29-year-old international pillar (16 caps) signed a three-year contract with Clermont, but his legal disputes prompted the Auvergne club to do everything to break his contract. The Labor Court opposed the suspension of his employment contract last week, but ASM and Haouas finally reached a financial agreement to separate, according to the daily L’Équipe.