Now free, he is “tired and relieved”.
Patrick Balkany was released from prison this Friday morning, after having benefited from a sentence adjustment confirmed this Thursday by the courts.
“I am relieved to be able to rest, take care of myself and take care of my wife,” he told BFMTV, who was waiting for him in Giverny (Eure), the town where he lives.
Thursday, the Paris Court of Appeal granted the request for sentence adjustment from the former mayor LR of Levallois-Perret, after several months of detention in Fleury-Mérogis (Essonne) for tax evasion.
The judgment had confirmed in all its provisions the decision of the Evry sentence enforcement court of May 30, 2022, which had released Patrick Balkany, without his having to wear an electronic bracelet.
The convict will have to “repair (…) the damage caused by the offence, (…) obtain the prior authorization of the sentence enforcement judge for any trip abroad” and “prove regular payment of taxes”, decided the court.
"This decision is irreproachable in law, because nothing justifies the continued detention of a 73-year-old man who has already served two thirds of his sentence", assured his lawyers Robin Binsard and Romain Dieudonné.
Balkany “presents several pathologies noted by expertise”
The Balkany spouses had been found guilty of tax evasion between 2009 and 2015. More specifically, they are accused of not having paid wealth tax between 2010 and 2014, of having paid a lower amount in 2015, as well as of having paid grossly undervalued income tax between 2009 and 2014.
After having spent five months in detention for tax evasion, then having been released under an electronic bracelet for health reasons in February 2020, the former elected official returned to prison last February due to numerous breaches of his obligations.
He had been imprisoned since February 7 in Fleury-Mérogis.
On May 30, the Evry sentence enforcement court granted him conditional release but the prosecution appealed, effectively keeping him behind bars.
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Thursday, the Court of Appeal took into account "the efforts of the convict to finally initiate since February 2022 the settlement of the considerable sums owed to the Public Treasury", can we read in its judgment.
This “awareness”, associated with the “quantum of sentence that he has now executed” and the “extremely low risk of recidivism” led the sentencing chamber to accede to his request.
She also took into account his state of health because "on the eve of his 74th birthday, (Patrick Balkany) presents several pathologies noted by expertise" and not disputed.
But the court warns: it is "a final warning" and in the event of non-compliance with his commitments, Mr. Balkany will have to serve his sentence in prison, the end of which is scheduled for April 21, 2023.
