Rape charges against Luc Besson: decision on June 21 in cassation

The Court of Cassation examined the Besson case on Wednesday. The supreme court will rule on June 21 on the need for an additional investigation into the rape charges that actress Sand Van Roy brings against Luc Besson. The director denies the facts and the actress' complaint has already been dismissed, a decision confirmed by the Court of 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. 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”.

The judicial investigation was the subject of a first dismissal, in December 2021, confirmed by the Paris Court of Appeal in May 2022. The defense of the actress appealed to the Court of Cassation against this last decision because it would be 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 Wednesday, the rapporteur proposed that the appeal not be admitted, considering in particular that the defense called into question the “sovereign assessment” of the Court of Appeal, that its arguments were not serious and that the France's highest 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. “Luc Besson calmly awaits the decision of the Court of Cassation, which will follow all the decisions which have already been rendered and which have all recognized his innocence”, his lawyer Thierry Marembert said on Tuesday. He was pleased that the reporting adviser of the Court of Cassation and the Advocate General consider the means raised by Sand Van Roy "devoid of seriousness".

“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 in October 2023 on the admissibility of this complaint.