The end of Omerta on the Saclay campus? The Évry public prosecutor’s office, in Essonne, has opened several investigations for rape in four large schools located on the Saclay plateauin Essonne south of Paris, after having received “several complaints”.
ENS, X and CentraleSupélec and the Optical Institute in the viewfinder
Four major schools are in the sights of justice, the Ecole Normale Supérieure, the polytechnic schoolCentraleSupélec and the Institute of Optics. “The word has been released” in “closed places where it was difficult to speak and be heard because it was necessary to preserve the reputation of the establishments“, rejoiced the prosecutor of the Republic Caroline Nisand.
The plaintiffs are all students, who denounce recent facts that have taken place in recent years, and the suspicions relate to other students: there is no, “at this time, from authority report“between the complainants and the suspects, specifies the prosecutor.
These complaints are a significant step forward in an environment, the big schools, where omerta usually reigns. “It is encouraging that victims dare to speak out and lodge a complaint. It’s up to the courts to do their job.” reacted to AFP, the École Polytechnique nicknamed in France “the X”.
Preliminary investigation opened in 2021
A preliminary investigation was opened in October 2021 after the results of an internal investigation carried out at the Supelec engineering school. “The results of this survey shocked us“, said the school principal at the time.Although we have been committed to the fight against gender-based and sexual violence for a long time, we were far from taking the exact measure“, he added.
From now on, two investigations are underway at CentraleSupélec, following two complaints of rape: one led by the prosecution and the other entrusted to an investigating judge. To date, the Évry prosecution has three preliminary investigations in progress, following two complaints of rape at Polytechnique and a report.
Two investigations at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) were also entrusted, in early June, to judges for rape and sexual assault, following two complaints.
A preliminary investigation is underway at the Institut d’Optique for rape and sexual assault.