Prosecutor from Auch seeks transfer to Bordeaux court following Lyhanna's death
Following the death of Lyhanna, aged 11, found in the Gers department in early June, prosecutor Clémence Meyer has requested a transfer to Bordeaux. The main suspect had never been arrested despite multiple reports.
Prosecutor from Auch to leave for Bordeaux following Lyhanna case
Clémence Meyer, prosecutor in Auch, has requested a transfer and is to join the Bordeaux general prosecutor's office on her own initiative, according to RTBF Info citing a judicial source.
This decision comes in the wake of the Lyhanna affair, named after an 11-year-old girl found dead in the Gers department on 4 June, several days after her disappearance. The main suspect, Jérôme Barella, had never been arrested or called in for questioning, despite multiple complaints and reports of sexual violence against other minors.
On 5 June, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin expressed his frustration at the failure to apply his directives concerning sexual violence against minors in this case.
As criticism multiplied over the handling of complaints, Clémence Meyer was targeted by death threats and placed under police protection, a judicial source confirmed to the AFP.
At the end of June, the Ministry of Justice furthermore announced that it had removed another magistrate from the Auch prosecutor's office from her authorisation to conduct investigations and handle cases concerning minors, due to dysfunctions in the handling of the Barella case.
Source: RTBF Info