Justice will investigate sexual violence in French skating, after the accusations of the former champion Sarah Abitbol against her ex-trainer Gilles Beyer.
The Paris prosecution announced on Tuesday the opening of an investigation into rape and sexual assault on minors by a person having authority over the victim.
The former French figure skating champion, evokes in her book "Un si long silence" the rapes she would have suffered from her ex-trainer between 1990 and 1992. A period in principle covered by prescription, when she was 15 to 17 years old.
VIDEO. Sarah Abitbol: "My shame turns into pride"
How can we explain the opening of such an investigation? Since the law of August 3, 2018, the limitation period for sexual crimes committed against minors has been extended from 20 to 30 years, as of the majority of the victim. Concretely, she can therefore file a complaint until the age of 48. However, since this law is not retroactive, it does not concern the former figure skater.
Possible meeting with the alleged abuser
Regarding the Beyer case, the prosecution said on Tuesday that the investigations "will seek to identify all the other victims who may have suffered, in the context described, similar offenses".
"The courts hope that other people who have suffered the same offenses will come forward. The more so as these new testimonies could them, not to be prescribed, explains on the phone Laure Tric, lawyer at the bar of Paris. In this case, the person for whom the facts fall within the limitation period could however be heard as a witness.
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The same reason was mentioned last month, during the opening of an investigation for "rape on the person of a minor of 15 years" against the writer Gabriel Matzneff. The facts denounced by Vanessa Spingora, a minor at the time of the facts, were also prescribed.
This procedure is not new. Since the arrival of François Molins at the head of the Paris prosecutor's office in 2011, investigations have been systematically carried out for prescribed acts of rape or sexual assault on minors, notes Le Monde.
If no trial can be held in such cases, the prosecution may propose a meeting between the declared victim and his alleged aggressor. The fact that this interview takes place outside the framework of a public hearing may lead to freedom of speech. "We obtained confessions during the confrontation, letters of apology," the former Paris prosecutor said in the evening paper.
"Victims do not understand the prescription"
Another possible reason, opening such an investigation can allow justice to "clarify the facts and highlight the operating mode of the accused", adds Laurence Dumoulin, researcher at CNRS and teacher in sociology of law at Sciences Po Grenoble.
Above all, this procedure would be a way for victims to make their voices heard. "This shows that justice is moving and that the testimony of those who have suffered is still taken into account," notes Laure Tric. “The victims do not understand the prescription. Most would like these crimes to be imprescriptible, ”she adds. This fight has been defended for years by certain feminist or child protection associations, such as L'Enfant Bleu.
Even if they conclude with a dismissal, these investigations still have the merit of showing that justice does not spare "men imagining themselves untouchable" and "from reputedly elitist circles" such as publishing, cinema or high-level sport, the criminal lawyer says.
Justice influenced by the #MeToo wave?
Finally, it is difficult not to see behind the actions of the magistrates, yet another effect of the #MeToo wave and the highlighting of sexual and gender-based violence in France, as everywhere in the world. "Justice wants to show that it is rigorous in dealing with these cases," said Laurence Dumoulin. And for good reason, "we have often pointed out the shortcomings of the entire penal chain, from the filing of a complaint at the police station to the court judgment".
As a reminder, 76% of rape investigations were unsuccessful in 2017, according to data from the Ministry of Justice. Classifications which are explained in the majority of cases by the fact that the investigation did not make it possible to materialize the facts: either the author is unknown, or the offense is absent or poorly characterized.
“The magistrates are, like everyone, influenced by their social environment. We imagine then that there is a real stake for them to show that these files are today one of their priorities ”, concludes Laurence Dumoulin.
