Praise of patience. Belgian justice has postponed its decision on the admissibility of a rape complaint against filmmaker Luc Besson for several months. The Bruges court, which was to rule on Wednesday, decided to ask a preliminary question to the Belgian Constitutional Court. This will determine whether the complaint filed by Sand Van Roy is admissible or not. The procedure can take “six months to a year,” Joris Van Cauter, the Belgian-Dutch actress’s lawyer, told AFP.
The information was confirmed by Virginie Cottyn, Luc Besson’s Belgian lawyer. Sand Van Roy, 35, accuses the French filmmaker of having assaulted her in a Parisian palace in May 2018, when this ex-model had just collaborated with the director of “Big Blue” and “Fifth Element”. . Luc Besson denies the charges.
Belgian law does not allow the investigation of a complaint relating to facts that have occurred abroad, with the exception of blood crimes or torture. Me Van Cauter considered before the court that the law did not respect “the principle of non-discrimination and equality between the citizens of the country”, stressing that rape was a “heavy crime”. He believes that he was “followed” by the court with this preliminary question.