“It’s a fight but I don’t want to give up! I’ve been fighting for nine years, I’m exhausted… ”, cowardly, between two sobs, this municipal policewoman employed in Metz since May 2007. Today, 40 years old, she never stops denouncing two rapes which were allegedly committed in September 2011 by the person who was, at the time, his head of his department.
A first complaint was filed in March 2012 with the Briey gendarmes. It will be closed without follow-up a year later. In April 2015, the young woman filed a new complaint by seizing the dean of the magistrates of Nancy. Facts that the defendant has always denied as recalled by his counsel, Mr.e Antoine Leupold. “For this criminal case, my client has not been heard since June 2012, as part of the first complaint. Since then, there has been a classification without follow-up. He was not heard again or confronted with the complainant. He was not the subject of any disciplinary proceedings or suspension. ”
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“Ten years later, an accused will say that he has changed! “
“For five years, the investigation is still ongoing, deplores Mr.e Agnès Cittadini, Parisian lawyer specializing in the defense of women victims of sexual violence. We all know that justice no longer works as before, but complaints involving the constitution of civil parties pay the heaviest price. In Nancy as elsewhere, the examining magistrates prioritize cases with detainees where there are deadlines to meet. The slowness of this procedure is a source of anxiety for my client. And yet, there is convincing evidence but, unfortunately, the further one gets away from the facts, the more difficult it becomes to say that a person is going to be condemned. It is pernicious and it is the victim who has to endure it. Ten years later, an accused will say that he has changed. A life evolves, but the offense does not! And that is what must be taken into account when assessing the facts! ”
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Placed under the functional protection
Since June 2016, a decision of the Strasbourg administrative court has imposed functional protection on the town of Metz for the benefit of the police. After five years of sick leave, the policewoman returned to service. “It’s hard to work in these conditions,” says the 40-year-old. I can no longer claim overtime. I am still not armed while in 2019, a certified doctor certified that carrying a firearm was not incompatible with my state of physical and mental health. “
Hervé Niel, deputy in charge of the municipal police, indicates that “for the sake of fairness and so that all goes well, the two protagonists are not equipped with lethal weapons unlike the 80% of armed municipal police officers. “
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“In the name of the presumption of innocence”
And to add: “All the classic measures in this kind of procedure have been taken. As the case is not finished, the presumption of innocence is asserted. Everything has been done to preserve the rights of this policewoman who works on a day unit with night pay. She has just been appointed Senior Brigadier-Chief. His career development was not impacted by his business. The only damage she suffered was the change of assignment with schedules specially designed for her and to prevent her from meeting the other protagonist of the case. We have applied a decree of July 2009 of the Council of State which gives the possibility to a community of deferring a disciplinary decision until the decision of the criminal judge. “
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