The singer and actor Patrick Bruel, targeted by several complaints from women for sexual violence, emerged free under judicial supervision from the Nanterre court on Wednesday June 10 in the evening, escaping the pre-trial detention that the prosecution had requested, the public prosecutor said in a press release.
The 67-year-old artist is indicted in four cases: a rape in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine) in 2008, an attempted rape in 2010 in Brussels, a case of sexual assault and sexual harassment in Perpignan in 2019 and a sexual harassment case in Ajaccio, in Corsica, in 2019. He is placed under the more favorable status of assisted witness in four others files, including a rape in Dinard (Ille-et-Vilaine) in 2012, a rape in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (Vaucluse) in 2015, an attempted rape in 2010 and 2011 in Neuilly-sur-Seine and sexual harassment in 2019 in Nyon in Switzerland. For a last case – a rape in Grenoble in 2000 – the statute of limitations was noted.
Among the obligations of judicial control, Patrick Bruel is prohibited from leaving French territory, from coming into contact with the victims and their families or from going to their homes and from attending a massage parlor, the prosecution said. The artist must also provide proof of psychological care and provide a bond of €500,000.
“The investigation begins, as do the investigations. Mr. Patrick Bruel will naturally participate in all acts of the investigation and remains at the disposal of the judicial authorities,” declared one of his lawyers, Fanny Colin, after a closed hearing before the judge of freedoms and detention. A few moments earlier, his client had appeared with an exhausted face, drawn features and bent back in the courtrooms, wearing dark gray jeans and a black sweater.
The investigating judges who heard him at the end of the day had placed him under judicial supervision, but the prosecution had contacted the judge of freedoms and detention in order to request placement in pre-trial detention, a recommendation not followed.
On Wednesday morning, the prosecution indicated in a press release that it had “requested the opening of a judicial investigation” against Patrick Bruel and his indictment for acts of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment concerning nine alleged victims for nine acts spanning between 2000 and 2019.
Among the victims identified by the prosecutor’s office, four filed a complaint with a civil claim, particularly regarding facts which had previously been the subject of a classification.
“Working with justice”
The procedures concerning 13 other people denouncing rapes, attempted rapes, sexual assaults and sexual harassment committed between September 1992 and September 2008 were also “joined to the judicial information file” although the facts “appeared covered by the limitation period at this stage”, detailed the prosecution. This junction aims to verify whether the prescription “is acquired” and to allow “to know generally the facts alleged against Patrick Bruel”.
The artist spent 48 hours in police custody, questioned by investigators from the Parisian judicial police. His lawyers explained on Monday that the singer had “for several weeks made it known that he was at the disposal of justice, to finally be able to respond within the framework of the legal procedure, before the competent authority”. They did not react on Wednesday. “We will be able to work with the justice system,” declared Me Myriam Guedj-Benayoun, who defends two women accusing Patrick Bruel of sexual violence in Brussels and L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in Vaucluse.
“This is a real first legal victory for the victims. I obviously have a special thought for Daniela Elstner, who was the first in this new procedure to have courageously opened the way and thanks to whom this procedure has reached this point,” reacted her lawyer, Me Jade Dousselin.
According to Mediapart, which revealed this affair on March 18, Daniela Elstner, general director of Unifrance, accuses Patrick Bruel of having sexually assaulted her and of having attempted to rape her in November 1997 during the French Film Festival in Acapulco (Mexico). She was then 26 years old.
“Possible risk of renewal”
The prosecution “took the measure of the seriousness and the multitude of facts and a possible risk of renewal and pressure on the victims or witnesses”, rejoiced Me Iris Biehler, lawyer for a woman accusing the singer of sexual assault in Perpignan in 2019 and another denouncing an attempted rape in Neuilly in 2019, evoking “a strong signal from the prosecution”.
This awareness, however, comes late for Me Carine Durrieu Diebolt, who defends one of the plaintiffs. “In a case that is potentially very media-rich (…), how many women do you need to accuse a celebrity, to lead to legal proceedings? », she asked on BFMTV.
During the artist’s custody, three new complaints for rape and attempted rape were also announced by Messrs Guedj-Benayoun and Corinne Herrmann. Under pressure, Patrick Bruel, who disputes all the accusations, announced the cancellation of most of his next tour, which was to begin in mid-June in Paris before taking him to festivals.
