French justice system in dock as paedophile case collapses

The five men and a woman who were convicted of child sex offences a year ago pose with their lawyers at Paris courthouse after they were cleared on appeal. Picture / Reuters

PARIS - A Paris court overturned paedophilia convictions against six people including a priest after the spectacular collapse of a case that has put the French justice system in the dock.
The case first shocked France because of the brutality of the claims but later because of a series of mistakes which meant the accused spent long periods in detention even though they were innocent.

Justice Minister Pascal Clement took the unusual step of apologising for the handling of the case, which has put the judiciary under pressure to carry out sweeping reforms, and announced an inquiry into what he said was a "disaster".

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called it a "judicial mess" and promised compensation for those falsely accused.

"The state must compensate of course, compensation will be fast," he said on France 3 television.

Most of the six accused wept as the court announced the verdict and their lawyers shared long embraces. Each of the five men and one woman had made one simple statement to the court, declaring: "I am innocent, Your Honour."

Seven other people had already been acquitted after Myriam Badaoui admitted last year she had falsely accused the 13 of involvement in a paedophilia ring to shift some of the blame from herself.

The sentences handed down to her, her husband and another married couple stay in force in respect of the repeated rape of her four children and other acts at her home in northern France from 1995 until 2000, when social services sounded the alarm.

The oldest of the six in court was a 67-year-old priest, Dominique Wiel, and the youngest was 24. Their sentences had ranged up to seven years in jail.

Twelve of the 13 originally accused spent between 16 and 39 months in detention and some lost their jobs. Others were barred from seeing their children and a 14th defendant, who said he was innocent, committed suicide while in prison.

"It was like being in a nightmare for four years, but it should never have happened," Wiel said.

"That makes five years that I have been waiting for this. Finally I can resume a normal life," said Thierry Dausque, 33, another of the six.

The defence observed a minute's silence for the defendant who committed suicide.

The failings in the case have prompted demands for changes in the justice system and put the government under pressure to explain why magistrates and psychologists believed the charges made by the woman and her children despite inconsistencies in their testimony.

Justice Minister Clement said President Jacques Chirac had ordered the inquiry and that magistrates involved could be sanctioned. A first report would be delivered in February.

Prosecuting attorney Yves Jannier said: "This case is a mish-mash of little errors, malfunctions and lapses of attention."

- REUTERS