After nearly a year in prison, Thomas Debatisse was acquitted by the Seychelles courts. On April 15, the Supreme Court declared the graffiti artist from Nice, known by the nickname Otom, “not guilty” of the murder of his companion, found on April 27, 2021 lifeless in their hotel room, on this archipelago in the ocean. Indian. A verdict that Emmanuelle Badibanga’s family disputes. And his sister promises “a legal continuation”.
“We have the intimate conviction that she did not commit suicide”, explained Magali Lonoh on BFM Côte d’Azur, on the sidelines of a white march organized Wednesday in Sainte-Maxime (Var), a year to the day after the death of the young woman described as “sparkling” and “full of joy”. “We have a lot of elements that could not be included during the procedure in Seychelles. We are on several tracks. And we’re going to take legal action on that. It’s not going to stop, ”she said.
French justice is leaning towards the suicide trail
Found hanging from the towel hook in the bathroom of Club Med in which she was invited with Thomas Debatisse, Emmanuelle Badibanga, 32, was, according to the Seychellois prosecution, the victim of strangulation. A version contested by the defense of the street artist, who denounced “remarks contrary to any scientific truth”. A parallel investigation opened by the Nice prosecutor’s office and anatomopathological examinations carried out in Marseille leaned on their side rather on the trail of suicide.
The Seychelles Supreme Court jury ultimately found Thomas Debatisse not guilty “as the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt”, according to a source familiar with the matter. Doubt which must always benefit the accused according to the Seychellois Constitution. The 35-year-old Niçois, who has since returned to France, has always maintained his innocence.