The lawyers of the 12-year-old victim spoke out in the media on Saturday, alongside the support rallies organized in recent days. As hundreds of people gathered on Friday in front of the town hall of Courbevoie, a week after the anti-Semitic assault that took place in this city in the Hauts-de-Seine region, the lawyers of the young victim spoke on the radio and television on Saturday. “This 12-year-old child is not doing well. It cannot be otherwise given what she has experienced,” said lawyer Oudy Bloch on France Info, who said he had met the victim twice since the incident. He praised the courage of the young girl who told everything to her parents as soon as she returned home, despite the death threats made by her attackers. “She suffered the worst horrors in this abandoned building. She was terribly kidnapped, held captive, insulted, humiliated, beaten, raped. She was subjected to an extortion demand. She suffered all the horrors she could endure,” listed Oudy Bloch. And all the stereotypes of this anti-Semitic crime are also present.” The victim said she was called a “dirty Jew” and asked by her attackers to justify why she was hiding her Jewish religion. “This little girl was attacked because she allegedly lied about her religion, spoke badly about Palestine,” detailed Oudy Bloch on RTL. “All of this looks like a punitive expedition, solely because she is Jewish.”
“State of shock”
Three young boys aged 12 to 13 were indicted on Tuesday, June 18 in connection with the case. They are accused of aggravated rape (in a group, on a minor under 15 and in the presence of minors), attempted extortion, repeated death threats, insults based on religion… among others. The emotion was strong among the residents of this neighborhood in Courbevoie, but also among political representatives, many of whom spoke out on this news story. As for the victim’s parents, they remain discreet and did not participate in the support rallies in Courbevoie. “It is a family in a state of shock, stunned by the terrible acts that their little one has suffered,” testified Muriel Ouaknine-Melki on France Info, another lawyer for the family, who is also the president of the European Jewish Organization. “She is very sensitive to all the testimonies and support she has learned about through the media. But, for now, the family’s place is by the side of the child and not in the street.”