It is a rare judicial twist in an extraordinary case: the two former police officers who were tried on appeal for the gang rape in 2014 of a Canadian tourist at the headquarters of the Parisian judicial police (PJ), 36 quai des Orfèvres, were acquitted on Friday April 22 by the Val-de-Marne Assize Court.

Three years after their conviction at first instance in Paris to seven years in prison, Antoine Quirin, 43, and Nicolas Redouane, 52, were declared innocent of the rape of Emily Spanton, 42, and emerged free from the palace of justice of Créteil where they had been tried for three weeks. 

The news was greeted with applause from the relatives of the two defendants, while the plaintiff left the court in tears. 

On Wednesday, the public prosecutor had requested a seven-year prison sentence against these two former agents of the prestigious BRI (Research and Intervention Brigade) who had not ceased to proclaim their innocence since the start of the case. 

Complainant's testimony called into question

During the evening of April 22, 2014, Emily Spanton, a Canadian tourist, met several BRI police officers in an Irish pub located opposite the famous 36, quai des Orfèvres.

While the atmosphere was flirtatious, the agents had offered a visit to their premises to Mrs. Spanton, very alcoholic that evening.

She had come out of it in a state of shock, denouncing a gang rape.

"When they were at the pub, they did not want to rape Emily Spanton," said Advocate General Christophe Auger during his indictment.

"They thought they could have consensual sex with her. But she doesn't want to. So we serve her a glass of whiskey to force her consent. And what happens is what happens."

Thursday, during their pleadings, the defense lawyers had asked for the acquittal for their clients, questioning the "credibility" of Emily Spanton and pointing the finger at "evolutionary" statements and "lies" on her part. 

With AFP

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