Overview
- Proceedings begin Tuesday in Lille, with three organizers charged with hazing or complicity related to an integration party attended by 19-year-old Simon Guermonprez.
- The university, cited by the family as a legal person, is judged for hazing and involuntary manslaughter after the public prosecutor chose not to pursue it.
- Investigators report that Simon was dropped home by a ride-hailing driver, later went to a nearby bridge, likely descended to retrieve a fallen phone, and was fatally struck by a truck; toxicology measured 0.83 g/L alcohol.
- Social-media material, including a promotional clip from the “les Borgia” group showing alcohol-pressure rituals and the tagline “Prépare ton foie,” features in the case, and roughly 50 attendees were questioned.
- Organizers deny coercion and say precautions were taken, while the parents seek accountability from the faculty they accuse of tolerating banned initiation events and point to a prior 2015 death as evidence of a pattern.