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Scene from the proceedings (drawing of the court from November 16)
Photo: JANE ROSENBERG / Reuters
A week ago, jury selection began in the New York trial of Ghislaine Maxwell.
The opening speeches are expected next Monday.
Before that, the family of the longtime confidante of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein makes headlines with a foray.
In a complaint to the UN, the relatives described the detention of the accused as illegal.
The imprisonment is a serious violation of the presumption of innocence.
This was explained by the human rights lawyers François Zimeray and Jessica Finelle in the complaint published on Monday, which they submitted to a UN body of independent legal experts on behalf of their relatives.
It also alleges that the US judiciary is violating Maxwell's right to an adequate defense.
In the complaint, the relatives of the accused also complain that they are receiving "degrading treatment" while in custody.
Maxwell has been on pre-trial detention since her arrest in July 2020.
She is in a prison in Brooklyn, New York.
She has repeatedly complained that the conditions there were unsanitary and inhuman.
Zimeray and Finelle question whether the Maxwell trial will be fair.
They argue that due to the widespread coverage of the case, the 59-year-old has already been prejudiced in the US public.
Maxwell is accused by the prosecutor of having recruited minors for Epstein between 1994 and 2004, who were then sexually abused by the financial investor.
Imprisonment of up to 80 years threatens
The daughter of the late British media mogul Robert Maxwell is said to have befriended the girls and then persuaded them to give Epstein a nude massage first.
She is said to have participated in the abuse in her home in London or in Epstein's property in part herself.
A week ago, jury selection began in Maxwell's New York trial.
The opening speeches are expected next Monday.
If convicted, Maxwell faces a prison sentence of up to 80 years.
She has pleaded not guilty on all charges.
The multimillionaire Epstein is said to have sexually abused underage girls and young women and incited them into prostitution for years.
The well-connected investment banker, who had already been convicted of sex crimes, was found dead in his prison cell in Manhattan in New York after his new arrest in 2019.
According to official sources, he committed suicide.
jok / AFP