French skater Sarah Abitbol, whose testimony has triggered a judicial investigation against her ex-trainer Gilles Beyer, does not intend to file a complaint because the rapes she has reported are prescribed, her lawyers said in a statement on Friday.
This clarification follows the words of the Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, who said Tuesday on Franceinfo to have "proposed" this approach to the former champion: "she already planned to do it", "she will file a complaint," said the Minister, in an appeal to victims, in all sports, to report similar events.
"The acts of rape committed from 1990 to 1992 are time-barred"
A few days after the publication of the figure skater's book (Un si long silence, Plon), the Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation on Tuesday for rape and sexual assault on minors by a person having authority over the victim.
"The acts of rape committed from 1990 to 1992, by its trainer, person having authority, against Mrs. Sarah Abibtol, born on June 8, 1975, are prescribed", recall her lawyers, Jean-Luc Chetboun and Isabelle Burlacot- Hunsinger. "She therefore does not file a complaint," continues the press release.
Identification of all victims
The figure skater denounced the facts "to be able to rebuild herself, but also to bring her voice and her support to the suffering women, who did not reveal their heavy secret", it is written. "Sarah remains at the disposal of justice as a witness," conclude the lawyers. The Paris miners brigade, in charge of the investigation, can summon the former champion to feed the investigations.
These "will endeavor to identify all other victims who may have suffered, in the context described, similar offenses", had reminded the public prosecutor Rémy Heitz at the opening of the investigation.
"There is no complaint at this stage filed against Gilles Beyer," said a judicial source on Thursday. This does not prevent the prosecution from seizing itself of the facts brought to its attention or published in the media.
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- Investigation
- Sexual violence
- Sport
- Sarah Abitbol case
- Skating