They bring to trial the writer Gabriel Matzneff, who for years wrote about his practice of pedophilia

The New York Times

02/19/2020 - 10:13

• Clarín.com
• Culture

Gabriel Matzneff , the renowned French writer who for decades spoke openly about his practice of pedophilia, was accused last Wednesday in a Paris court of promoting sexual abuse of minors .

Matzneff, who was hiding in the Italian Riviera and did not appear in court, was accused of defending and justifying pedophilia through his numerous books and public appearances, according to the case initiated by Angel Bleu, an anti-pedophilia organization.

The court set for September 2021 the beginning of the trial, which will analyze not only the actions of the writer but also those of the French elite who published his books, promoted his career and even helped him evade justice.

“Everyone will have to assume their responsibilities,” said Angel Bleu's lawyer, Méhana Mouhou, after the hearing.

Matzneff was represented in court by his lawyer and long-time follower, Emmanuel Pierrat, who is also president of the PEN Club de France, an association of writers, and general secretary of a Paris museum dedicated to fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, who He died in 2008 and was one of Matzneff's benefactors. Pierrat did not agree to make statements.

L'Ange Bleu uses a special legal procedure to force Matzneff to face a trial, arguing that his interests as an organization dedicated to fighting pedophilia were harmed by Matzneff's promotion of pedophilia. If convicted in this case, Matzneff, 83, could spend five years in jail.

Although Matzneff is not expected to appear in court until next year in the case initiated by the anti-pedophilia organization, the writer could be subject to legal questions before that date if prosecutors decide to charge him for specific cases of abuse.

Prosecutors, who in recent weeks have been criticized for their long inaction despite Matzneff's recognized pedophilia, are moving along a different path that could lead to criminal charges.

Last Tuesday they said they would actively look for other victims of the author and on Wednesday they raided the headquarters of Gallimard, one of Matzneff's publishers, for the second time to seize more of his books and manuscripts, according to the French media.

The book of a victim of Gabriel Matzneff. (Martin Bureau / Agence France-Presse - Getty Images)

Matzneff spoke and wrote openly about pedophilia, but the dynamics changed after the last month was published Le consentement (The consent) of Vanessa Springora, first testimony of one of the writer's minor victims .

The book, which prompted an abrupt cultural change in France, triggered the sudden fall of Matzneff, which was abandoned by its three publishers, stripped of an exceptional benefit of the French government and defected by its former followers.

Last Wednesday, Christophe Girard, secretary of culture of the mayor of Paris, issued a statement on his Twitter account in which he acknowledged that he had arranged the payment of Matzneff hotel expenses by the fashion house Yves Saint Laurent a mid-80s, as The New York Times reported . Girard said he had followed the instructions of Pierre Bergé, the business magnate and partner of Saint Laurent.

Girard also wrote that it was "possible" that, when he had held the same position in Paris in 2002, he had written a letter of support that earned Matzneff an annual lifetime allowance from the National Book Center rarely granted.

Until a few weeks ago, Matzneff was recognized as a renowned writer . He received one of the most prestigious literary awards in France in 2013. His latest book, L'amante de l'Arsenal (The Lover of the Arsenal) was published three months ago in the prestigious "Collection Blanche" of Gallimard, considered by many the publisher most renowned in France. He also had a large audience through a column in Le Point magazine.

When Le consentement was about to be published, Matzneff left France to spend Christmas with friends in Rome, he said in a long interview with The New York Times , in which he asked that his exact whereabouts not be revealed.

Then, when the scandal broke out in Paris and almost all of Matzneff's followers ran to cover, Matzneff moved to a hotel on the Italian Riviera.

Matzneff, who said he did not know when he would return to Paris, will be required to appear at the start of the trial next year.

Matzneff Case - December 2019 - Cover of Libération

In many books, Matzneff writes about his relationships with teenage girls in France and sex tourism in the Philippines with boys as young as 8 years old . The book that made him known as an author, from 1974, bore the title of Les moins de seize ans (Children under 16).

As a transgressive figure rooted in the French literary tradition, Matzneff attracted many in the French elite, the publishing world, journalism, politics and business.

In the recent interview with the Times , Matzneff defended himself indignantly by saying that he wrote about what many others were doing in secret, especially in the years following the countercultural revolution of May 1968.

"Even the stupid things I could have done during those euphoric years of freedom ... I wasn't the only one," he said. "What hypocrisy."

Matzneff wrote with meticulous detail about his sexual history, especially in his diaries, that the anti-pedophilia group plans to present in court as the main evidence of his behavior.

In the interview with the Times , Matzneff said he did not deny anything that was in his diaries - a posture that, according to some fans, reflects his total commitment to literature but now poses legal risks.

Matzneff said he did not invent anything or hide anything in his diaries. "In my view, a newspaper is only of interest if it deserves the title that Baudelaire gave to one of its own, My bare heart," said Matzneff referring to the nineteenth-century French poet.

"A fake newspaper has no interest," he said, adding that, in the true literature, "there must be blood, there must be sperm, there must be life ."

But, when asked if he had retrospectively written less frankly, he replied: "At this moment, I would tend to say yes, considering how the sky is coming down to me."

In Le consentement , Springora, who is now 47, writes that he met Matzneff when he was 13 and he was almost 50. When she turned 14, they had sex for two years, according to her account and Matzneff's diary of that time, La prunelle de mes yeux (The light of my eyes).

Springora writes that the relationship led her to years of depression and other psychological problems .

In France, it was illegal, and still is, for an adult to have sex with a child under 15 years old, although the judges have ample scope to decide what punishment they will impose, if they do.

"I am as I am, in good and evil," Matzneff said in the recent interview. “My books are there. When I am gone, they will judge my books. ”

Translation: Elisa Carnelli.

JPE