"The presumption of innocence must be the principle which must prevail at all levels, affirms Me Marie-Cécile Nathan on France 24.
A lawyer at the Paris bar, she co-signed with 113 other criminal lawyers, claiming to be feminists, the forum published in Le Monde, which recalls the principles of the presumption of innocence and prescription. A column written following the Caesar scandal, "to recall some essential principles of our democracy and the law," she added.
"People's and Media Court"
If the latter concedes that there may be speeches and accusations, these must nevertheless "be brought before a court, a tribunal, an Assize Court, and it is for justice decide ", continues the criminal lawyer, denouncing a" public opinion court ".
"This popular and media court poses a real difficulty because it can have dramatic consequences," she explains, adding, however, that the idea is not to prevent the debate.
"If an accusation must be confirmed and pronounced, it cannot be by the people's court, it must be by magistrates whose job it is."
Limitation period
In their tribune, the lawyers quote the only victim of Roman Polanski recognized judicially: Samantha Geimer. At the microphone of France 24, also mentioning the concept of prescription, Me Marie-Cécile Nathan reminds him: "The main person who should be heard is his official victim, his victim who has been recognized as such by the American courts and who says today 'that's enough' ". For the criminal lawyer, "this problem of prescription generates something which is a drift".
If many feminists claim the end of this limitation period, fixed at 20 years, Me Marie-Cécile Nathan specifies that since the extension of this period, it can today be 30 years for minor victims, from their majority. Despite this, she adds, "if a charge is laid more than thirty years later, there is nothing else to confirm or deny the charge". The lawyer then evokes the risk of "falling into something arbitrary".
"We are 114, and legitimate"
"We do not want any word, neither that of the victim, nor that of a defendant to be a sacred word," she said. "There has to be a debate around the statements that are made, and these statements must be supported by material elements, which is impossible more than 30 years after the facts."
If feminist associations believe that the purpose of this forum is none other than to "sink" the victims, Me Marie-Cécile Nathan denies it. "We are 114 and are legitimate to be able to speak on the subject insofar as we are women in a particularly male environment", she argues. "We carry rape files for several years, whether on one side or the other, with people we support."
On Tuesday, a counter-column, entitled "Our reality in terms of violence against women, is the permanent presumption of lies", was published in Le Monde in response to that co-signed two days earlier by lawyers.
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