These are the kinds of things that can happen when the legal system is corrupt. If it’s a jury trial, he walks. If it’s a star chamber, he goes to prison. I don’t know how it works in the EU, but I’d bet dollars to doughnut holes it is a star chamber.
I was trying to remember the French criminal justice system. I believe judges are much more prominent there, than juries, but I can’t remember if that only relates to pretrial procedure or runs through the entire matter.