It is a cruel hearing for justice which must be held this Tuesday before the correctional court of Avignon (Vaucluse).
A summary of the mistakes and dysfunctions of the judicial system in the fight against violence against women, with the bitter feeling that the worst could have been avoided.
Tuesday, Valérie (
the first name has been changed
), 38, must appear on direct summons from her ex-husband for non-presentation of children, whereas on the contrary none of her successive complaints filed against him (death threats, abandonment family, violence) did not prosper ...
This violent ex-husband is Frédérik Limol, 48, the madman who killed three gendarmes on December 22 in Saint-Just (Puy-de-Dôme) before putting an end to his life.
That night Sandrine, his new companion, had escaped death by taking refuge on the roofs and calling the gendarmes of Saint-Aubert, three of whom fell under the bullets to save her.
In reality, public action ends with the death (suicide) of this computer engineer who became a radicalized survivalist.
But this Tuesday, Valérie intends to go to the hearing accompanied by her lawyer, Me Wissam Bayet, who symbolically wishes to request his release.
"The life after remains a life of runaway and fear"
“The civil party died but not the accused.
My client is alive and well, and she is also cited in this case by the prosecutor.
She's not a delinquent, and justice has to hear that, imagine my client's frustration.
"To obtain the direct summons of Valérie in court, Frédérik Limol had used a subtle subterfuge by going to her home accompanied by a bailiff in order to make the latter draw up a statement of absence and no. -representation of a child.
(
Editor's note: Frédérik Limol had visiting rights every Sunday at 2 p.m. at his ex-wife's home in the presence of her)
.
"Limol deliberately deceived the bailiff because my client had notified her ex of her change of address by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt, as evidenced by the receipt in our possession", affirms Me Bayet.
Harassment, death threats, violence… After her divorce in 2012, Valérie lived through hell.
But the judiciary failed to detect the dangerousness of Frédérik Limol despite three complaints and a handrail.
The thirty-something had even alerted Marlène Schiappa, the Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Interior, in charge of citizenship, who was at the time Secretary of State in charge of Equality between women and men.
“After hindsight, I would have a hard time advising a woman victim of domestic violence to leave.
The life after remains a life of runaway and fear ”, deplores Valérie in this Facebook message dated May 6, 2020, which we were able to consult.
She evokes her complaints and concludes: “On domestic violence, no means are put on the removal and reintegration of the perpetrators.
"
Destruction of real estate, punches against the walls ...
The first trace of complaint dates back to June 29, 2017 before the territorial gendarmerie brigade of Saint-Saturnin-les-Avignon.
This one is particularly detailed and edifying.
The thirty-something tells the death threats, especially by fire, (
Editor's note: before killing the gendarmes, Limol set fire to the house on the roof of which Sandrine, his new companion, had taken refuge
), the destruction of property real estate, and the punches against the walls.
Valérie never heard back from this complaint.
Neither of the following ...
"She did not live under the same roof as her ex-husband, the investigation services ruled that there was no emergency and danger", justifies Eric Maillaud, the public prosecutor of Clermont-Ferrand.
He continues: “The complainant has never produced Total Incapacity for Work (ITT).
There are hundreds of complaints of this type.
And the alleged perpetrators of this violence have never taken action.
The successive moves of Frédérik Limol also seem to have complicated the work of justice.
"The investigations come under three different jurisdictions", notes Eric Maillaud.
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The last complaint, filed on February 12, 2020 with the police station of Privas (Ardèche) for abandonment of family, is undoubtedly the most embarrassing.
It gave rise to the opening of a preliminary investigation by the Clermont-Ferrand prosecutor's office, also classified.
Limol challenged the threats and violence
"It is incomprehensible, yet it was easy to see that Frédérik Limol had never paid alimony to my client since their divorce," said Me Wissam Bayet.
As part of the investigation, Frédérik Limol was heard.
"He was at the Revenu de solidarité active (RSA), he said he loved his daughter but that his ex prevented him from seeing her," said prosecutor Eric Maillaud.
"He explained that he had seized his side the judge of family affairs and filed a complaint for non-presentation of a child."
During this hearing, Limol also contested the threats, the violence.
"As often in his business, it is the word of one against that of the other".
During the investigation, Valérie, she was not heard, to the great regret of Me Wissam Bayet.
"This was not considered useful insofar as she had already said things in her complaint", defends the prosecutor of Clermont-Ferrand.