The defense had announced the color long before the start of the trial: no image.
And this Monday morning, Me Alain Jakubowicz, principal lawyer for Nordahl Lelandais, recalled that he did not want his client to be photographed or filmed in the accused's box before the opening of the proceedings before the Assize Court of Savoie in Chambéry.
To discover what the alleged murderer of Arthur Noyer looks like today, it was therefore necessary to be, on May 3, in the courtroom or in the video transmission room.
Some may see it as a past whim to a character that many deem hateful.
In any case, many would have liked to see the face of this 38-year-old man, accused of having killed the young alpine hunter in 2017 but also of being the executioner of little Maëlys, eight and a half years old, who died there. same year.
In fact, no privilege was granted to him.
The law was simply respected.
"Too often, the 20 Hours is a kind of gallows"
Article 38 ter of the law of July 29, 1881 on the freedom of the press prohibits the use of any device allowing to record, fix or transmit the word or the image, and this from the opening of the 'hearing before an administrative or judicial court. Any violation of these provisions is punishable by a fine of 4,500 €, increased to 18,000 € in the case of assize trials. The only possible images are those of the court before the opening of the proceedings. The media generally take the opportunity to photograph the files of the case being judged, or even the seals, with a ban on filming the accused, the jurors of the session, the witnesses.
These rules set, an accused can always give his consent to be photographed or filmed.
It is also necessary that the president, master of the police of the hearing, accepts.
He or she has the right to oppose it in order to preserve the serenity of the debates, for example.
“With one exception, I have always refused any shooting.
We must respect the presumption of innocence and protect the accused.
Too often, the 8 pm newspaper is a kind of gallows, ”argues Dominique Coujard, who has presided over many assize trials.
The magistrate quotes these photos at the hearing of serial killer Guy Georges, all smiles with his lawyer, and their "disastrous effects for everyone".
Read also Trials filmed and broadcast: what the justice reform provides
The real exception to the rule concerns the cartoonist, authorized to portray the accused and the actors in the assize trial. Readers of Le Parisien - Today in France will thus discover the face of Nordahl Lelandais during his trial thanks to the work of an illustrator. And if a snapshot of the accused at the hearing appears in the media or on the Internet, it will necessarily have been taken illegally.
