The head of the hunting hunt organized on November 16 in a forest of Aisne where a pregnant woman of 29 years had been killed by dogs, was placed on Tuesday under the status of witness assisted at his request, according to his lawyer.
"We were questioned in the media, without having until then been able to defend ourselves, so we asked the investigating judge to grant us this status", said Guillaume Demarcq, lawyer for Sébastien van den Berghe, master of the Rallye la Passion, organizer of the hunt.
Elisa Pilarski, who went for a walk with her dogs, was found dead on November 16 in the Retz forest, where a hunt was organized in parallel. According to the autopsy, the death was caused by "a hemorrhage following several dog bites to the upper and lower limbs and to the head".
With this intermediary status between the indictment and the status of simple witness, Sebastien van den Berghe, the chief of the hunting with hounds will have access to his file will be able "to defend himself judicially". “My client formally disputes that his dogs have anything to do with the death of Elisa Pilarski. For him, it's a hunting day like any other, absolutely nothing has happened, ”added Me Demarcq.
Curtis, Elisa Pilarski's dog, had already bitten
In a statement, Pierre de Roüalle, president of the hunting company which groups together French hound hunting associations, affirmed that "during the 18,000 days of hunting with hounds organized each year across 70 departments, never any accident human body implicating venison dogs has not been identified ”.
In order to identify the animals responsible for the bites of Elisa Pilarski, genetic samples were taken from 67 dogs: the 5 American Staffordshire from Elisa Pilarski and 62 dogs belonging to the Rallye la Passion association. The results are not yet known.
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According to a source close to the investigation, one of the victim's dogs, Curtis, bit a volunteer caregiver from the shelter where he is placed and had already bitten Elisa in the past.
Judicial information has been opened against X for “manslaughter by clumsiness, recklessness, inattention, negligence or failure to observe a duty of care […] resulting from the assault committed by dogs”.