This is the story of two parents who tear themselves apart over the custody of their daughter, on the basis of accusations of rape and incredible escape, interrupted by a banal traffic check last March. This Wednesday, the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal is looking into the very sensitive case of the disappearance for eleven years of little Camille, kidnapped by her mother after a stormy separation, and found by chance. 20 minutes back to this case.
What are the facts ?
Living so far in the Var, Priscilla Majani separated in 2008 from the father of her daughter Camille, before starting divorce proceedings. The two ex-spouses then fought a heated legal battle for custody of the child. “As of 2008-2009, multiple handrails illustrate the situation of conflictual separation of the couple in the current divorce proceedings”, can we read in the order for reference.
In January 2011, Prisicilla Majani filed a complaint against her former husband for sexual assault and rape on little Camille. On February 21, 2011, the procedure was dismissed on the basis of several expert reports. Shortly after, Priscilla Majani disappears with her daughter. She had since been the subject of two arrest warrants. The mother had been sentenced twice in Toulon, in 2011 and 2016, for non-representation of a child, first to one year’s imprisonment (penalty now prescribed) then to three years’ imprisonment.
She was also sentenced in 2015 to two years in prison for slanderous and false denunciations brought against her ex-husband, following accusations of rape. For his part, the latter reproaches his former wife for manipulating their daughter, who still refuses to see him today.
Last March, a police check in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland identified Priscilla Majani, who had settled in the region with Camille, now 17 years old. During her arrest, the mother explained that she had hidden in Switzerland for six to seven years, after having resided in “different countries”. She was then extradited in August at the request of the French authorities. .
What was said in the first instance?
On September 16, after a tense and long five-hour hearing, the Toulon Criminal Court sentenced Priscilla Majani, now 48, to two years in prison for slanderous denunciation of her ex-husband. and three years in prison with deprivation of civic and parental rights for non-presentation of her child. In his indictment, the representative of the public prosecutor’s office, Dominique Mirkovic, had called for the conviction of “a manipulative mother, who hatched a plot against the father”, dismissing the defense thesis of “a simply worried mother, who tried to protect her child. The court awarded the father 25,000 euros in compensation for the damage suffered and 1,500 euros for the costs incurred.
A decision appealed by Priscillia Majani’s lawyer, Me Myriam Guedj-Benayoun, who intends to plead for release this Wednesday. “What I experienced on this trial, I have never experienced it elsewhere, is surprised the lawyer. The hearing at first instance went extremely badly. I lodged a complaint with the Superior Council of the Judiciary and I asked for the protection of my chairman because I am under pressure and threats. »
A Priscilla Majani support committee has been set up. Chaired by the actress Eva Darlan, there are many stars, such as Bruno Solo, Mimie Mathy, Audrey Pulvar, Lio or the actress Andrea Bescond, known for her autobiographical film Tickles which looks back on the sexual violence she suffered as a child. In a press release, these personalities ask “in the name of humanity, the release of Priscilla who only protected her child. »
“In Aix-en-Provence, on November 23, the appeal trial of a mother who chose, against her own interest, to protect her child will begin, writes the support committee in this press release. Justice did not believe in the word of Priscilla, any more than in that of her daughter who maintains her statements. If the presumption of innocence has been applied concerning the father, the precautionary principle which protects a child from his possible aggressor has not been applied. On November 18, in a document that 20 minutes was able to consult, Camille filed a complaint against her father with the Swiss courts for psychological, physical and sexual violence. She claims in particular in this complaint to have been the victim of touching and penetrations on the part of the latter.
“My client no longer expects much from this hearing, except confirmation of the sentence and the damages which will pay him comfort to compensate for what happened, affirms Me Olivier Ferri, the lawyer for Camille’s father, now 74 years old. During the previous hearing, he had to leave escorted by the police. We know that he will never see this child again, who is completely alienated from her mother. There are no longer any illusions. Camille today at 17 years old. She doesn’t want to see her father anymore. »
Where is Camilla?
Since her mother’s arrest, Camille has been placed under curatorship in Switzerland. “The authorities hide his identity and his establishment, specifies Me Guedj-Benayoun. She has not seen her mother, who has been in prison since February 2022, but they are allowed to call each other. “The teenager will, again, be the great absentee from this trial.