A dismissal was pronounced in favor of the filmmaker Luc Besson, accused of rape for three years by the actress Sand Van Roy, Franceinfo learned this Thursday from corroborating sources. The examining magistrate Marie-Claire Nouriel followed the requisitions of the Paris prosecutor’s office, which had requested, on October 8, the abandonment of the proceedings in this highly media affair.
“Of course we will appeal”, reacts on franceinfo the lawyer of Sand Van Roy, Francis Szpiner, for whom this decision “is not a surprise”. “The defense knew that Mr. Besson’s best lawyer was the investigating judge. They decided not to instruct and achieved the rare performance of never meeting the plaintiff.” Actress Sand Van Roy also announced on Twitter to wear “complaint for forgery against judge Marie-Claire Nouriel.”
I am filing a complaint for forgery against Marie-Claire Noiriel
– Sand Van Roy (@SandVanRoy) December 9, 2021
“This dismissal is consistent with the constant position of the public prosecutor”, reacts with franceinfo the lawyer of Luc Besson, Thierry Marembert. According to him, the prosecution considered that “the accusations were unfounded.”
On May 18, 2018, the day after a meeting with Luc Besson at the Bristol, a Parisian palace, Sand Van Roy had filed a rape complaint against the filmmaker. Two months later, she had denounced other rapes and sexual assaults, committed according to her during two years of a “professional control relationship” with Luc Besson.
62-year-old Luc Besson, who has always disputed the facts, had not been indicted but only placed under the status of assisted witness. “He hopes that after the flouting of his presumption of innocence in this affair, his right to innocence will be respected”, explains his entourage to franceinfo. “Luc Besson now intends to devote himself to his films.”