In unison, they salute his birth, just a year ago. But for the families of the victims and the associations of relatives of the disappeared, the cold cases center, created on March 1, 2022 in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), still suffers from too many dysfunctions.
Problems that the associations intend to correct by formulating, within the framework of the bill relating to the improvement of justice, proposals which aim to boost the effectiveness of this national pole dedicated to the treatment of serial or unsolved crimes. A pole, where 63 cases are now open for investigation by three judges.
The first of these proposals concerns the management of seals, in other words their storage conditions and duration, their traceability and, finally, the methods of destruction. A theme of “crucial importance” for Me Didier Seban who animated, this Wednesday at the Nanterre court, a press conference, surrounded by representatives of associations, all determined to see this new pole cold cases running at full speed.
“The eventual resolution of a case often involves seal analysis operations. However, the conservation policy is catastrophic ”regrets the tireless lawyer – known, with his colleague Corinne Herrmann – for his long fights in the case of the disappeared from Yonne or in that of Estelle Mouzin, in Seine-et-Marne.
“Their destruction must be prohibited by the legislator,” he continues. Especially in view of scientific progress and the extended limitation period for public action. Thus, the exploitation of a mattress belonging to Michel Fourniret had in particular made it possible, in the Estelle Mouzin file, to detect a partial biological profile of the victim. Proof, according to the lawyer, of the essential nature of better management of seals.
More means, but not only
It is for this purpose that families of victims and associations are calling for the creation of storage rooms worthy of the name, allowing storage in good conditions. A request not so easy to fill, as shown by the delay in finalizing the work of the dedicated room, at the Nanterre court.
But families and associations are not only fighting to obtain more financial means, judges or clerks. They are also fighting for a better fluidity of the legal system. They thus demand the consecration of the decision-making role of the examining magistrate in the process of transfer to the pole of Nanterre.
“This will allow the transfer to the pole, in the absence of the opinion of the prosecution or in the event of opposition from the latter, observes Me Seban, confronted with this type of problem with the parquet floors of Dijon (Côte-d’Or) and Chalon-sur-Saone (Saone-et-Loire). This will open a way of appeal before the investigating chamber for the families. Which is not possible today. »
The associations welcome the listening of Sabine Kheris
Families who, after twenty or thirty years of waiting, do not always understand the new delays taken by the judicial institution despite the creation of the Nanterre centre. And who also do not understand the competition between the police and the gendarmerie.
“This little war serves the interests of families”, regrets Férouze Bendouiou who, for thirty years, has been trying to solve the enigma of his little sister, Charazed, who disappeared in July 1987 in Isère. “The information of some is not shared with the other, and vice versa”, breathes, for his part, Estelle’s father, Éric Mouzin who, in passing, deplores “the computer stone age” in which evolve police and gendarmerie services.
If the associations of victims and relatives of the disappeared would like to see things move faster, they nevertheless measure what has already been accomplished. In particular, bringing the division closer to the best experts in France to ensure the creation of a common corpus using the best scientific data in order to resolve cases.
Finally, they appreciate the relaunch of investigations, the dynamism of the magistrates as well as the “humanity” and “listening” of the examining magistrate Sabine Kheris, coordinator of the pole. “She takes care to inform the families in a transparent way,” says Éric Mouzin. “In a year, I saw her regularly, supports, Férouze Bendouiou. Whereas, since my sister’s disappearance thirty-five years ago, I had only seen the judge twice. »
