For almost 1 hour 15 minutes on Thursday, Olivier Janson, public prosecutor of Mont-de-Marsan, spoke. Spoke to detail the details of the investigation opened for attempted intentional homicide after the bullet wound of 27-year-old singer Kendji Girac, on April 22 in an area heavily frequented by travelers, in Biscarrosse. All this to finally suggest that a classification without further action will take place, the thesis of a suicide attempt – simulated or not – being retained.
How can we explain this extraordinary intervention? It provoked a reaction from the artist’s managers who, in a press release sent to AFP, “regretted” that the magistrate “seemed fit to disclose the privacy of the private and family life of Kendji Girac, who is a discreet and reserved man by nature, without necessity in view of the current investigation.” Singer Vianney also reacted to X, seeing it as a boon for the celebrity press.
Emmanuel Pierrat, lawyer at the Paris bar, specialist in intellectual property and author of Stars at the helmpublished in 2019, returns for 20 minutes on this speech which he considers “lunar” and “staggering”. For him, “(the prosecutor) did not measure the impact of his words”.
A clumsy speech, echoing his past as a juvenile judge?
“He was a children’s judge for many years, so he is not a trained prosecutor, which does not take away from his professional qualities,” says Maître Emmanuel Pierrat. But it is really very new that prosecutors have the right to hold press conferences, and if the new magistrates are trained in this, this is not the case for Olivier Janson.” The latter has been a prosecutor in Mont-de-Marsan since 2017 but has had little exposure to cases as high-profile as that of Kendji Girac.
The juvenile judge, who officiates behind closed doors, is responsible for judging minors and finding solutions to educational flaws. And by focusing on personal considerations, such as the singer’s alcohol problems, rather than confining himself to the facts, the prosecutor acted like a children’s judge, according to Maître Emmanuel Pierrat. “But here, we are facing a 27-year-old singer with an adult wife, these are not 12-year-old kids! », he protests.
During his press conference, Olivier Janson clarified that he had the agreement of Kendji and his partner to speak. A way of “covering up” for Master Emmanuel Pierrat. “They end up giving lots of details about what happened to them, to explain that it is not a homicide and that there is no domestic violence,” believes the lawyer. But at the same time, it paints a picture of their private life that we did not know. » The couple probably did not expect a such a detailed account of his life, as shown by the reaction of the singer’s managers. “We, journalists who are members of the judicial press association, will never complain about seeing a prosecutor speak,” he said to 20 minutes the association. And prosecutors are free to express themselves as they wish.”
Silencing rumors and showing the work accomplished
Nearly four days passed between the discovery of Kendji Girac’s injury and this press conference, during which very little information filtered through. “I think he felt obliged to fill this silence and show the work carried out,” underlines Master Emmanuel Pierrat. As soon as he spoke, the prosecutor clarified that he wanted to “avoid the spread of rumors and reestablish the truth”. It was said, for example, that the gendarmes had difficulty accessing the camp and that negotiations had to be conducted to obtain the weapon and then the magazine. “He felt obliged to justify everything they did and in fact, he tells us everything,” comments the lawyer.
The dismissal of the case is not yet effective, since expert assessments are still in progress. “I was a little stunned, because we are talking about cocaine, possession of weapons, concealment of weapons, false testimony, facts which are reprehensible, and he pulls out the oars to perhaps clumsily justify the ranking to come,” points out Master Emmanuel Perriat.
If it is not yet official, Olivier Janson is expected to become general counsel in Toulouse from the next school year. “This press conference will not necessarily work in his favor,” slips the lawyer. “There may be events happening regarding private life [de Kendji Girac]of the professional career in the weeks to come, which will perhaps alter this somewhat angelic press conference a little,” he adds.
Emmanuel Perriat specifies that there is no criminal or professional misconduct in his opinion in this case, but “clumsiness” and a difficulty in being “up to the challenge”.