"
Mimi
" Marchand, powerful figure of the press people, was indicted Thursday in the investigation of the photos of the arrest last year of Piotr Pavlenski, Russian artist at the heart of the Griveaux affair, said Tuesday August 17 a judicial source, confirming information from Mediapart.
Read also: Benjamin Griveaux, the shattered fate of an ambitious man
The boss of the BestImage agency was indicted on August 12 for "
concealment of violation of professional secrecy
" and "
extortion
" in the judicial information relating to the dissemination by Paris Match, in February 2020, of photos of the arrest of Piotr Pavlenski. She was placed under judicial supervision. She was also already prosecuted in a part of the case of suspicion of Libyan financing of the 2007 presidential campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy.
According to Mediapart, “
Mimi
” Marchand - whose real name is Michèle Marchand, aged 74 - is now suspected in particular of extortion to the detriment of television presenter Karine Le Marchand.
Solicited by AFP, Me Caroline Toby, the lawyer of the one who is nicknamed "
the popes of the press people
", had not followed up at the end of the afternoon.
Charging a BestImage photographer
Piotr Pavlenski was arrested with his partner Alexandra de Taddeo on February 15, 2020 in the west of Paris, in front of the lens of photographer Sebastien Valiela, who had been informed of the date and location of the operation.
This arrest took place two days after the broadcast, claimed by Piotr Pavlenski, of videos of a sexual nature by Benjamin Griveaux, then LREM candidate for mayor of Paris, precipitating his withdrawal from the municipal battle on February 14, 2020.
Read also: Griveaux-Pavlenski affair: a paparazzi from the BestImage agency indicted
Photos and a video showing Piotr Pavlenski lying face down on the ground with his hands shackled by handcuffs, had been released the following week by Paris Match. Sebastien Valiela, who works for BestImage, was indicted in this case in June. In September 2020, two police officers were also arrested for “
breach of professional secrecy
”.
“
Mimi Marchand
” has also been prosecuted since early June for her involvement in the resounding interview, broadcast in mid-November by BFMTV and Paris Match, with Ziad Takieddine, during which the sulphurous intermediary had withdrawn his accusations against Nicolas Sarkozy. The magistrates of the financial center of the Paris court suspect that this retraction could have been bought or at least remotely controlled fraudulently. The boss of BestImage spent a month in pre-trial detention in this investigation for not having respected its judicial control. She was released on July 21.
