The investigation targeting political scientist Olivier Duhamel, who admitted to having sexually assaulted his stepson “Victor” Kouchner when the latter was a minor, was dismissed because the facts, which took place in the 1980s, are prescribed. , announced, Monday, June 14, the Paris prosecutor, Rémy Heitz.
Five months after the opening of an investigation for rape and sexual assault by a person having authority over a 15-year-old minor, “The Paris public prosecutor’s office has proceeded today to classify the proceedings without further action, due to the prescription of public action”, wrote the prosecutor in a press release.
“This reason for classification is retained when the facts revealed or denounced in the proceedings constitute an offense which would have given rise to prosecution by the prosecution if the time limit set by law had not been exceeded”, explains the magistrate. By these terms, the prosecutor still implies that the facts are considered sufficiently established by the investigators.
Thirty-year prescription and systematic surveys
Mr. Duhamel, 71, was heard as a free suspect on April 13 by the Bbrigade for the protection of minors (BPM). The political scientist, former MEP and media figure, had recognized “Hardly” the facts of incest, according to a source close to the file.
The Paris prosecutor’s office had carried out a preliminary investigation on January 5, 2021, following the revelations of Camille Kouchner, twin sister of “Victor”, in her book La Familia grande and in the columns of World. In addition to the rapes and assaults on her brother, she showed there a real system of omerta in the entourage of Mr. Duhamel, aware of the reprehensible acts of the political scientist. Now about 45 years old, “Victor” had resolved to file a complaint on January 21, after having refused during a previous procedure opened in 2011.
In 2018, Parliament extended the statute of limitations from twenty to thirty years after the victim has reached the age of majority in matters of sex crimes against minors, but this new extension of the time limit does not apply to facts that were already prescribed when the law has been promulgated.
The publication of Camille Kouchner’s book sparked a freedom of speech and a vast debate on the fight against this incestuous violence. On February 26, the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, wrote to prosecutors to demand a systematic investigation into the revelations of sexual offenses against minors, even when the facts were likely to be prescribed. Not only to verify if the prescription was acquired, but also to identify possible other victims as well as to allow the accused persons to explain themselves.