He was convicted 28 years ago for the murder of Ghislaine Marchal, before being pardoned, but not cleared, in 1996.
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The second request for review of the Moroccan ex-gardener Omar Raddad was rejected Thursday, October 13 by the Court of Review and Re-examination, learned franceinfo from the lawyers of the various parties. Omar Raddad was convicted 28 years ago for the murder of Ghislaine Marchal in 1991. He was pardoned in 1996 but not cleared.
The commission of instruction of the Court of Revision declared the request inadmissible, according to the lawyer for the family of Ghislaine Marchal at franceinfo. The family says in a statement that they “wishes that this decision puts a definitive end to a case painfully experienced by her”. “The family regrets that this affair has been the subject of media agitation for thirty years, stirred up by some in search of notoriety.”
For her part, Omar Raddad’s lawyer, Maître Sylvie Noachovitch, told franceinfo that she will soon seize the European Court of Human Rights. “I will never let go of Omar Raddad, it is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice of the 21st century”she said after the decision was made behind closed doors. “The commission considers that the DNA cannot be dated on the grounds that they may have been polluted. We are outraged by this decision which does not respect the 2014 law which allows revision in the event of simple doubt!”
Last September, Sylvie Noachovitch had requested additional information for the expertise of the four male DNA found on seals from the crime scene in 2015, and which, according to her, “demonstrate with evidence that Omar Raddad is innocent”. The Advocate General had spoken in favor of a feasibility study of these expert opinions and the civil party had not opposed it.