This is a lesson three individuals had to learn on Thursday morning. The accused, aged between 25 and 58, had to answer to state courts. The prosecution has demanded two sentences of six months and one sentence of nine months as punishment.
In April 2017, a brother and sister lied in court to protect a friend of theirs in the case of a traffic accident. They had reported that it had been one of them behind the wheel at the time, not their friend, who did not have a licence at the time.
The main accused, who has stopped at the Aire de Capellen on the way to work, explained on Thursday morning that he had panicked during his initial hearing, which is why he had said that he had two witnesses who could confirm that he hadn't been driving. After the deed was done, he then asked the siblings to support his statement.
He had not forced, nor had he bribed either of them. Since no one was hurt, they agreed, and the sister reported that she and her brother had not had any bad intentions. However, the President of the Court retorted that they had mislead the justice department, and that this was a crime that was heavily penalised.
The brother, on his part, explained that he just happened to become embroiled in the situation and was persuaded by the other two. The judge, however, was not impressed, and asked the man: "What does that mean? Someone asks you to do something, and you just do it?"
According to the siblings' lawyer, the gravity of the situation went over their heads. Patrick Luciani further claimed that the brother and sister were so naive that they did not realise what it meant to lie, and that neither of them had the intention to defy the law. The main accused, a family friend, had simply asked them a favour - for which there had been no recompense. Since their records were otherwise clean, Luciani asked they be punished with no more than a fine.
The prosecution however would have none of it. If they had admitted to lying earlier, then the case against them would have been dropped. As it stood, however, a prison sentence was the appropriate response.
The verdict will fall on the 30 January.
