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Sexual photomontage: Balkany spouses released

2023-06-07T06:32:54.168Z

Highlights: Patrick and Isabelle Balkany were acquitted on Tuesday, June 6 by the criminal court of Nanterre. They had been tried two months ago for the dissemination of photomontages of a sexual nature of the first deputy mayor of Levallois-Perret. Experts could not prove with certainty that these images were indeed a montage. Patrick Balkany, 74, is currently being prosecuted in two other cases. He is being prosecuted for "misappropriation of public property or funds by a person holding public authority" and "illegal taking of interests"


The experts could not prove that the images of the first deputy mayor of Levallois-Perret are photomontages.


Patrick and Isabelle Balkany won their case: the spouses were acquitted on Tuesday, June 6 by the criminal court of Nanterre, where they had been tried two months ago for the dissemination of photomontages of a sexual nature of the first deputy mayor of Levallois-Perret.

The Balkany were accused of having distributed to relatives pornographic images of David-Xavier Weiss, the current first deputy mayor of Levallois, former close to the couple, turned political opponent. However, as the prosecution acknowledged during the hearing, the experts could not prove with certainty that these images were indeed a montage. "The evidence that there was a photomontage is not sufficiently demonstrated," explained the president of the 14th chamber of the court to justify the acquittal.

'A disavowal for the public prosecutor'

«

This decision restores the honor of our clients which has been unjustly sullied, "responded to the press Me Robin Binsard, who represents Patrick and Isabelle Balkany with Me Romain Dieudonné. "It is a disavowal for the public prosecutor who prosecuted the Balkany spouses in this case against all common sense, while everything showed that no offense could be blamed on them," he added.

At the hearing in April, the prosecutor's office had demanded a fine of 10,000 euros against the former mayor of Levallois (between 1983 and 1995 and 2001-2020) and against his wife, who was also his first deputy. David-Xavier Weiss had withdrawn his complaint, initially filed for disclosure of a document of a sexual nature and his civil action, before the hearing. The confusion even extended to the proceedings because, although the prosecutor had decided to refer the spouses to court for the publication of a photomontage, the summons received by Patrick Balkany mentioned another qualification: "invasion of the privacy of others".

See alsoTax fraud, an old French story

Since their departure from the town hall of Levallois in 2020, the Balkany have multiplied criticism - sometimes bitter - on social networks against the new municipal team. Isabelle Balkany, 75, is due to be tried in July 2024 for defamatory remarks made on Facebook against Mayor Agnès Pottier-Dumas. Patrick Balkany, 74, is currently being prosecuted in two other cases in Nanterre. Already indicted for "misappropriation of public property or funds by a person holding public authority", he is being prosecuted in another case for "misuse of company assets" and "illegal taking of interests". Convicted of laundering tax fraud, the Balkany couple was found guilty of hiding between 2007 and 2014 some 13 million euros of assets from the tax authorities. Patrick Balkany spent several months in detention in connection with the case.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-06-07

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