Revival or epilogue? The Court of Cassation renders its decision on Wednesday concerning the accusations of rape made by actress Sand Van Roy against Luc Besson. The filmmaker denies en bloc and received a dismissal at first instance, a decision confirmed on appeal. On May 18, 2018, the 35-year-old Belgian-Dutch actress filed a complaint for rape, a few hours after an appointment in a Parisian palace, the protagonists of which gave two versions.
Sand Van Roy accuses Luc Besson of having imposed digital penetration on him. She maintains that she then fainted. A version according to her accredited by findings, the day of the facts, by the medico-judicial emergencies. Two months later, the actress filed a complaint against the filmmaker for other rapes and sexual assaults committed, according to her, between 2016 and 2018, episodes of a “relationship of professional influence” under threats of “retaliation on his acting career”.
Luc Besson regretted an extramarital relationship in a context of “subordination”, while the actress had shot in some of her films. But he indicated twice that he had “no recollection” of some of the facts denounced and recounted a consented report imbued with “gentleness”. The judicial investigation was the subject of a first dismissal, in December 2021, confirmed by the Paris Court of Appeal in May 2022.
The magistrates of the Court of Appeal swept away the testimonies of three women made during the investigation and disputed by Luc Besson, who evoked “kisses on the neck” up to an “attempted rape” under possible threat of professional retaliation. The decision had revolted the complainant. “You don’t give a damn about physical evidence and expertise. You don’t give a damn about any incriminating evidence against (my) attacker. You humiliated me, defamed me, damaged me for life,” she said in a statement posted on Twitter. “Don’t press charges. Especially not on the day of the facts. Especially not against Luc Besson. That’s it. I understood,” she added.
The actress’s defense had therefore appealed to the Court of Cassation, considering that the judgment of the Court of Appeal was tainted with procedural irregularities, would have “distorted” certain elements of the file, and would also and above all have endorsed an “unfair” procedure from its origin, to the detriment of the actress.
During a hearing on May 24, the public rapporteur proposed the non-admissibility of the appeal, considering that the defense called into question the “sovereign assessment” of the Court of Appeal, that its arguments were not serious and that the highest French judicial court did not have the right to rule on the need for an additional investigation. The Advocate General also advocated non-admission, using an argument comparable to that of the rapporteur.
The 64-year-old director and producer, known for The Big Blue, The Fifth Element, Léon or Lucy, “is calmly awaiting the decision of the Court of Cassation, which will follow on from all the decisions that have already been made and which have all recognized his innocence”, had indicated at the time of the hearing his lawyer Thierry Marembert. The filmmaker is one of the French figures caught in the wave of accusations from women who claim to have been victims of rape or sexual assault in the wake of the fall of American producer Harvey Weinstein in October 2017.
Thierry Marembert was pleased that the reporting adviser of the Court of Cassation and the Advocate General considered “lacking seriousness” the means raised by Sand Van Roy. “The work of justice is more literature than cinema. After the lost time, we are very calmly waiting for a judicial time found, here or there”, had estimated for his part Antoine Gitton, lawyer for the actress.
The actress has also filed a complaint for rape in Belgium against Luc Besson. The Belgian Constitutional Court should rule at the end of 2023 on the admissibility of this complaint.
