The council of the Seine-Saint-Denis Bar Association announces the suspension of the interventions of its lawyers at the criminal offices of the Bobigny court. An unprecedented motion, occurring after the indictment of two police officers for aggravated rape for acts which took place at the Bobigny courthouse.
The affair, revealed on Thursday October 29, continues to grow. Two police officers are then suspended and placed in police custody. A 26-year-old woman, referred to the Bobigny public prosecutor’s office and detained in a basement cell, accuses officials of having raped her on the night of Tuesday 28 to Wednesday 29. The two men have been indicted since Saturday, November 1 for rape and sexual assault by a person abusing the authority conferred by their functions.
Monday, November 3, the Council of the Order decided to vote for the immediate suspension of all interventions by its lawyers at the deposition. No longer any of these 650 members should travel to assist people in police custody, thus leading to a series of postponements of hearings due to lack of lawyers.
In an official press release, the bar denounces a “bankruptcy“and facts”ccommitted by agents holding public authority on a person placed in their custody in a place of deprivation of liberty (…) of exceptional gravity (constituting) an intolerable attack on fundamental rights“.
The bar requires “immediate, binding and verifiable structural measures” pour “guarantee the effective security, protection of the physical integrity and dignity of all persons detained in the premises of the depot”.
President Sandrine Beressi recalls that this decision was not “taken lightly. We are waiting for an administrative investigation to tell us what happened, what went wrong so that criminal acts were committed inside the court premises.“.
The court is the second largest in France in terms of volume of cases, after that of Paris.
