The Meaux prosecutor's office requested on Friday February 4 the indictments of seven members of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community managing a Talmudic school in Seine-et-Marne, suspected of kidnapping minor students and physical and psychological violence, announced the prosecutor.
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"
At the end of police custody, seven people were brought this morning and are currently presented before the investigating judge
" now in charge of the investigation, explained the prosecutor of Meaux, Laureline Peyreffite, during a conference of hurry.
In addition to their indictment, their placement under judicial supervision was requested.
An investigation opened for kidnapping in an organized gang
On Monday, 17 members of this ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Seine-et-Marne were taken into custody during an operation that mobilized 130 gendarmes, mainly from the Paris research section.
The investigation was opened for kidnapping in an organized gang, aggravated violence, deprivation of care and food, aggravated abuse of weakness.
The persons implicated, site managers, teaching staff, supervisors, "
generally denied the facts even if some were able to describe acts such as slaps and blows
", declared the prosecutor.
Read alsoSeine-et-Marne: arrest of officials of a Talmudic school, suspected of kidnapping
Located in Bussières, a village of 500 inhabitants 60 kilometers east of Paris, the yeshiva Beth Yossef, renowned for its strict methods, welcomed around sixty students, between 13 and 18 years old, mostly of Israeli nationality but also some of American, Belgian, Romanian or Irish nationality, “
none speaking French
”, and “
non-declared schooling
”, specified Laureline Peyrefitte.
"
The state of psychic subjection could be noted in some of them as well as psychic suffering
", described the prosecutor.
“
Some have been able to confirm without always criticizing acts of physical and psychological violence
“, she added, specifying that facts of sexual assault had been reported by one of them and were the subject of an investigation.
“
According to their statements, they were totally isolated from the outside world except for telephone contact with their parents under authorization
”.
"
Their passport was confiscated
", they were "
very limited in their access to care
" and lived "
in unsanitary housing conditions and a general state of disrepair
", said the magistrate.
Supported by child welfare (ASE) in Seine-et-Marne, some of the minors "
without parental authority on French territory
" will be picked up by their parents this weekend, the department said. .
For the others, care will continue in conjunction with the Red Cross.
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The establishment had been the subject of “
various worrying reports, including one from Miviludes
” (Inter-ministerial mission for vigilance and the fight against sectarian aberrations), according to the prosecutor.
From July to December 2021, three students had escaped from the yeshiva, accelerating the investigation into this school.
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