- On November 16, a 29-year-old pregnant woman was killed in a dog park in the Aisne forest.
- The head of the hunt, which was organized that day, was placed on Tuesday, under the status of witness assisted at his request, according to his lawyer.
- With this intermediate status between the indictment and the status of simple witness, the leader of the La Passion rally will have access to the file.
On November 16, a 29-year-old pregnant woman was killed by dogs in a forest in Aisne. The head of the hunt with hounds which was organized that day, was placed, Tuesday, under the statute 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.
He can "henceforth defend himself judicially"
With this intermediate status between the indictment and the status of a simple witness, they will have access to the file and Sébastien van den Berghe will be able "to defend himself from now on".
“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.
In a statement, Pierre de Roüalle, president of the hunting society which groups together French hound hunting associations, affirmed that "during the 18,000 days of hunting with hounds organized each year through 70 departments, never any bodily injury human implicating dogs of hunting were not raised ".
Several dog bites
Elisa Pilarski, who went for a walk with her dog Curtis, 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".
In order to identify the responsible animals, genetic samples were taken from 67 dogs: the five American Staffordshire by Elisa Pilarski and 62 dogs belonging to the Rallye la Passion association. The results are not yet known.
According to a source close to the investigation, one of the dogs of the victim, Curtis, who would be a cross between a whippet and a patterdale terrier, had in the past already bitten Elisa and bit a volunteer "caregiver" of the service for assistance and control of the Beauvais animal population, where it is under requisition.
"This bite has no interest"
"She was bitten just after the dog came out of a very traumatic event, this bite has no interest on the merits of the case, the death of Elisa Pilarski," argued Eric Alligné, lawyer for the spouse of Elisa Pilarski.
According to him, the placement under assisted witness of Sébastien van den Berghe "proves that there is a beginning of implication or connection which relates to the Passion Rally in this file".
Judicial information against X is in progress for “manslaughter by clumsiness, recklessness, inattention, negligence or breach of an obligation of prudence (…) resulting from the aggression committed by dogs”.
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- Justice
- Picardie
- Pregnant
- Dog
- Hunt