Testimonies that will be the subject of investigations. Three women accused Nicolas Hulot of sexual violence between 1989 and 2001 in the show Correspondent aired Thursday. Others then wrote to France 2 testimonies of sexual assault on the part of the former minister,
including host Maureen Dor. In total, at least six women, including a minor at the time of the facts, accuse the former host and former minister of rape or sexual assault. A priori prescribed facts, and that the environmental activist formally denies.
The Paris prosecutor’s office nevertheless opened an investigation on Friday into counts of rape and sexual assault. The report from France 2, underlines the Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau in a press release, implicates Nicolas Hulot “for facts likely to have been committed in Paris with regard to a minor victim”. The investigations were entrusted to the brigade for the protection of minors of the Paris judicial police. “They will endeavor to determine whether the facts denounced can characterize a criminal offense and whether, in view of their seniority, the limitation period for public action has been granted. It is also a question of identifying more recent victims.
“There may be a trial”
“In this type of business, the rule, at the Paris prosecutor’s office, is to open a preliminary investigation to verify the prescription and search for other victims,” explains Me Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, lawyer at the Paris bar specializing in defense. victims of rape and sexual assault. If there are victims for whom the facts are not prescribed, there may be a trial. “
With the release of speech following the #MeToo movement, justice has been led to open several investigations on the basis of revelations of old facts – and therefore prescribed. This had for example been the case after the publication of the book La Familia grande, in which Camille Kouchner denounced the incest committed by political scientist Olivier Duhamel in the 1990s.
“The media coverage of sexual assault, even prescribed, it allows victims to know that they are not alone, and some of them can, therefore, afford to speak”, greets Carine Durrieu-Diebolt.
The question of evidence
In the event of new testimonies, the question of proof of sexual assault always arises, often after several years its commission. “Even years later – because it often takes time to speak because of the trauma suffered – we can have evidence,” says the lawyer. If the victim confided in a loved one after the fact, if she received psychological care, or if she has traces of exchanges with the aggressor such as text messages or e-mails, this constitutes evidence. “And Carine Durrieu-Diebolt concluded:” The words of several victims who did not know each other are highly credible. “