The man indicted in February in the investigation into the theft of a stencil from Banksy, in Paris in September 2019, says he acted at the request of the famous street artist, we learned Friday from a source close to file, confirming information from the Parisian .
This suspect, indicted for "theft of cultural property in the movable public domain" and placed under judicial supervision, was again heard by the investigating magistrate Friday. The missing work, which was located near the Pompidou Center, has not been found.
Several works by the artist at home
Other works by Banksy had been seized during searches. Contacted by AFP, Me Antoine Vey, the lawyer of this suspect, explained that there are in the procedure "various elements which accredit the thesis" of his client and his proximity to the world of urban art . He thus cited "objectively established connections" with the entourage of the street artist and the fact of having found at home works of Banksy that he "did not steal and that he did not buy either " "They were given to him," he added.
The lawyer also questioned the qualification used for the indictment of the suspect, stressing that it had not been demonstrated that one could speak of theft in this specific case. The British artist, who likes to keep his identity secret, but who is one of the most highly regarded in his community, had struck a big blow in June 2018 by disseminating a series of stencils, sometimes with a very political tone, in the capital.
A rat with a cutter
He had claimed authorship of eight works on his Instagram account, including a hijacking of the painting "Napoleon crossing the Alps" by Jacques-Louis David, a sad-faced silhouette on a door of the Bataclan, or a small rat with a masked muzzle brandishing a pencil (or cutter), near the Center Pompidou.
It is this work, "carried out on the back of the entrance panel" of a car park, which was stolen on the night of September 1 to 2, 2019. The Center Pompidou had filed a complaint "for theft and damage, within a space within its perimeter ”.
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