“My consumer is relieved, it’s essential to her. » For Ophélie Fajfer, the choice of the Nanterre prosecutor’s workplace resonates as a primary victory after years of preventing within the shadows. His first rape grievance in opposition to Patrick Bruel had been dismissed on November 15, 2022. In a press launch printed this Monday, the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office declares that it has relaunched the investigations.
His lawyer, Me Myriam Guedj Benayoun, doesn’t conceal the scope of this reopening of investigation. “I didn’t type a civil social gathering, I didn’t pressure the passage”, nevertheless, needs to make clear the Toulouse legal lawyer, stressing that this resumption of investigations emanates from a direct determination of the general public prosecutor.
“She was 19, he was nearly 40 years older”
It began in 2015, on the set of a video clip for Les Enfoirés by which the younger lady, a passionate musician, participated. Within the course of, she tried her luck and wrote to the celebrities she met that day to ask for recommendation. Patrick Bruel solutions him. They then alternate messages. “They’ll preserve a totally skilled correspondence from March to August 2015,” continues the legal lawyer.
When summer time comes, the prospect of the vacations locations them on the similar trip spot, within the south-east of France. A primary assembly is organized in a restaurant, the ambiance is cordial. Ophélie Fajfer and Patrick Bruel meet once more a second time, this time within the property of the interpreter of Break your voice. “Sadly, it’s going to go badly,” summarizes the lawyer. Behind the doorways of the home, the younger lady says she skilled the unthinkable. “She accuses him of sexual assault and rape. What she skilled destroyed her life, we should pay attention to that,” insists Me Guedj Benayoun.
On the time, the hole between the 2 was immense. “She was 19, he was nearly 40 older. She was very naive, she was 10,000 miles from considering that this might occur. »
“It’s a miracle”
The trauma is all of the extra profound because the younger lady was guided by a deep religion. “She is a Christian and really non secular. She had by no means had an intimate relationship, not even a kiss. She needed to maintain her virginity for her husband,” confides her lawyer. Confronted with the denounced aggression, the basic mechanism of guilt is triggered:
« Like all victims, she feels very responsible and accountable. »
When the prosecution decides to shut the case on the finish of 2022, the shock is simply too heavy to bear. “When there was no additional motion, she collapsed psychologically to the purpose of making an attempt to finish her life in a church,” reveals her counsel.
As we speak, Ophélie Fajfer approaches this new section of investigations with braveness, pushed by her convictions. “It’s a miracle,” says Me Myriam Guedj Benayoun. She tells herself that if she survived, there was a cause. She is satisfied that her obligation is to hold her phrase. » Confronted with the investigators who will take over the case, the complainant shows a transparent place: “She is straight in her boots. She is aware of what she went by way of. She is decided and now it’s as much as justice to do its job. »
“Patrick Bruel’s story is evident and has not modified”
Contacted by 20 Minutesthe singer’s advisors, Mes Céline Lasek and Christophe Ingrain, recall that these accusations have already been the topic of in-depth verifications. “The courts dominated on these allegations after an entire investigation, throughout which Patrick Bruel was heard and confronted,” underline the 2 legal professionals.
Within the artist’s protection, this primary determination is adequate. “On the finish of those investigations, the courts determined to dismiss this grievance with out additional motion. That is the conclusion of investigators and magistrates on this topic. It’s clear. » Messrs Lasek and Ingrain specify that “the magistrates took this determination after inspecting the exact statements of Patrick Bruel on the course of the few hours in query”, making certain that “Patrick Bruel’s account is evident and has not modified because the investigation. »
Three different rape investigations
This reopening of the investigation is along with a legal context already very heavy for the artist. The Nanterre public prosecutor’s workplace additionally introduced this Monday {that a} grievance with a civil social gathering was filed on Might 12 with an investigating choose. Carried by two ladies, it relaunches an enormous process dismissed in 2020 which then centralized seven testimonies for rape or sexual assault dedicated between 2000 and 2019, specifically throughout massages on the sidelines of concert events.
Lastly, the Paris prosecutor’s workplace relinquished three different investigations focusing on the singer in favor of that of Nanterre. These proceedings concern accusations of rape which have been allegedly committed in 1997, 2000 and 2008. Identical to Ophélie’s case, they’re entrusted to the cops of the first judicial police district (DPJ) of Paris.
