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CRIME

Hundreds mourn murdered French schoolgirl

Mourners wept and hundreds of well-wishers laid down white flowers at the funeral on Saturday of Maëlys de Araujo, a French eight year old abducted from a wedding and murdered.

Hundreds mourn murdered French schoolgirl
Crowds watched Maelys de Araujo speak on a large screen erected in La-Tour-du-Pin. Photo: Romain Lafabregue/ AFP
Maëly's body was found in February, six months after the schoolgirl went missing from an August 27 wedding in a case which shocked the whole country.
   
“Nine months are lives have been broken … I spent nine years of happiness with you,” said her tearful mother, Jennifer Cleyet-Marrel, at the funeral in the central eastern town of La-Tour-du-Pin, which was decked out in white 
balloons to symbolise a lost innocent child.
 
Nordhal Lelandais, a former soldier aged 35, admitted in February to killing Maelys, but claimed he accidentally struck her in the face. His testimony led investigators to her remains but the exact cause of death has not been established.
   
The 400-capacity church was full to bursting for the service which was broadcast on big screens in the town square where some 200 people, some who had come a considerable distance, gathered to pay their respects along with members of the media.
   
Among those present were the parents of Arthur Noyer, a young soldier Lelandais has confessed to killing in April last year.
 
Maelys was to be buried at a private ceremony following the funeral in her nearby home village.
   
“This could happen to anyone. They are finally going to be able to lay her to rest,” said Sebastien, 45, a resident of La-Tour-du-Pin who came to pay his respects and sign a book of condolences.

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CRIME

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The head of France's top cinema institution Dominique Boutonnat denied sexually assaulting his godson as he went on trial Friday in a case that has led to calls for him to step down.

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The trial comes as French cinema reels from a renewed #MeToo reckoning that has seen several big names, including acting legend Gerard Depardieu, accused of sexual abuse.

READ ALSO: French actor Gérard Depardieu to be tried for sexual assault in October

Activists have denounced Boutonnat’s continued leadership of the National Centre of Cinema (CNC), whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry.

His godson accuses him of trying to masturbate him during a holiday in Greece in 2020 when he was 19.

“I looked at him to find my godfather and that’s when I saw someone completely different… It was someone using me to masturbate,” the godson, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court.

Boutonnat responded in court that it was his godson who had initiated the situation and kissed him.

“I feel bad about leaving an ambiguous situation, but to say there was a sexual assault is false,” he told the court.

He was placed under investigation in February 2021 but still reappointed by the government as head of the CNC in July 2022.

Training to prevent abuse has in recent months become obligatory for films seeking public funding via the CNC.

The CNC told AFP that the case against Boutonnat came from “the private sphere” and had no relation to its activities.

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