The Belgian-Dutch actress Sand Van Roy, who had already seized French justice, filed a complaint for “rape” before a Belgian court against the French filmmaker and producer Luc Besson, we learned, Tuesday, June 7, from judicial source confirming information from Belgian media.
Sand Van Roy, 34, accuses Luc Besson, 63, of having abused her in a Parisian palace in May 2018, when this former model had just collaborated with the director of the Big Blue and Fifth Element. She made an appearance in his film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planetsreleased in 2017.
Mme Van Roy suffered a setback two weeks ago in French justice, when the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the dismissal order issued in December 2021 in favor of Luc Besson. The decision is in line with what the Paris public prosecutor’s office had requested during a hearing in April.
In parallel with the procedure in France, where the Court of Cassation will now have to rule, Mme Van Roy commissioned a Belgian lawyer, Joris Van Cauter, to take the case to Belgian justice. A complaint for “rape” was filed in April before the court of Bruges (north-west), affirmed, Tuesday, to Agence France-Presse this lawyer, Me VanCauter. Information confirmed by the public prosecutor’s office of the Flemish city.
“We did not do what should be done” in France
The complaint was filed “before dismissal” appealed in Paris, “we believe that the investigation in France was not a real investigation, we did not do what must be done”argued M.e Van Cauter, refusing to go into detail.
At the Bruges court, an investigating judge was seized of the investigation, and a closed-door hearing is scheduled for September before the council chamber (an investigating court) to decide on the follow-up to be given, said a spokesperson for the prosecution joined by AFP. Luc Besson has not yet been heard by the judge, according to this same source.
Thierry Marembert, the director’s Parisian lawyer, on Tuesday described the referral to a Belgian judge as“diversionary operation” of the opposing party. Since the beginning of the business, four years ago, “seven different French magistrates, judges and prosecutors, all women, examined these accusations and all considered that Mr. Besson was innocent and that the criminal investigation had been thorough”said the lawyer.
On May 18, 2018, Sand Van Roy had filed a complaint for rape, a few hours after an appointment in a Parisian palace, the protagonists of which gave two versions. The actress says she was the victim of an imposed digital penetration, which resulted in fainting. Luc Besson consistently denied the charges and assured that the report was consented.