It’s the business in the business. Stolen, found in Italy, the Bataclan gate is now the subject of a bitter legal dispute. An appeal in cassation in progress relates to the judicial restitution of the old emergency exit, painted by the artist Banksy after the attack of November 13, 2015. The conflict opposes on the one hand the owners of the building of the hall of entertainment, and on the other the City of Paris, which has become the manager of its operating fund. Individuals and the municipality are fighting over the ownership of the door, on which appears a stencil representing a young girl in tears, in tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack.
The challenge is symbolic and financial. “Banksy’s door risks being sold. The refusal to return it deprives the victims of the Bataclan attack of a piece of their memory,” say the advice of the City of Paris. Contacted, the lawyer for the family joint possession – owner of the walls of the building -, who recovered the door, did not wish to comment. This conflict erupted on the sidelines of the judicial investigation file devoted to the theft of the door, on the night of January 26, 2019. According to this investigation, three individuals stole the door painted by Banksy, by cutting the hinges using a grinder. The trio operated in a few minutes, which makes the examining magistrate think that the operation was “carefully prepared”.
The door was found on June 10, 2020 by investigators from the 2and judicial police district, intact and hidden in a barn, in Italy. Eight men aged 31 to 58 are sent back to the Paris Criminal Court on June 8 for “theft and concealment in meetings”, suspected of having participated in the theft, transport or transfer of the precious object to Italy, for reasons which have not been fully elucidated. Suspected of having sponsored the theft, a Lyonnais with an astonishing profile, rich with millions thanks to the Loto according to him, affirms that he was presented with a fait accompli by his childhood friends.
Placed under seal, then returned
As soon as the judicial investigation was opened, two civil parties joined the criminal case, claiming to have suffered the damage of the theft from the Bataclan gate. On the one hand Daniel Habrekorn, representative of the family joint ownership who owns the walls of the building of the theater. Author of poetry collections in the 1970s, adventurer and documentary filmmaker, who became a host on Radio Courtoisie, Daniel Habrekorn, 76, led the renovation of the premises in the early 2000s. He is a descendant of the playwright Gaston Habrekorn, who acquired the mythical theater in 1905. Another civil party to the investigation file: Jérôme Langlet, director of the show branch of the Lagardère group, manager of the Bataclan operating company, and as such tenant of the premises.
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