Ségolène Royal told the press on Monday that she "ended the law of silence" when she was the minister responsible for school education (1997-2000). The former presidential candidate, who had just been interviewed behind closed doors by the office of the delegation to the National Assembly overseas, had sparked the controversy by declaring on January 3 that pedophilia "was a taboo, before "and that" we discreetly transferred the pedophile (teachers), if possible in the overseas territories so that it was far away we no longer heard of it ".
"Not seen not caught"
"The consternation aroused by these remarks touched the whole of the ultramarine political class", underlined in a press release the president of the overseas delegation of the Assembly Olivier Serva (LREM, Guadeloupe), who invited him to speak before the delegation office. Ségolène Royal clarified to the press at the end of her hearing that when she had been appointed deputy minister, she had "heard of this rumor of transfers, not only in the Overseas Territories, but also in isolated rural villages or even in the administration. Not seen, not taken, you see, the law of silence reigned and I put an end to this law of silence. "
She explained that after having put in place the circular of August 26, 1997 "which said very clearly to adults in the school environment that they had the obligation to seize the public prosecutor since they had the revelation by a child or the family of this child sexually abusing him and the teachers were immediately suspended "," there have been 300 cases that have been sparked ". This circular, she said, "clarified the procedures and therefore put an end to the rumor by passing to acts and facts and therefore also to convictions and revelations".
A parliamentary committee?
Questioned in early February, the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer said that there was "no convincing evidence" to corroborate the words of the former socialist minister. Several deputies, including that of Guyana Gabriel Serville (GDR) and Olivier Serva, have asked for the establishment of a parliamentary commission of inquiry. LFI deputy Jean-Hugues Ratenon (Reunion) deplored a closed-door hearing in restricted format, in front of the delegation office, and not the entire delegation.