According to the son of the Swiss prostitute, who revealed on television in 1990 that Abbé Pierre frequented a brothel, this testimony cost him dearly.
“The boss told us: ‘Come and look through the keyhole in the bathroom. There’s someone there waiting their turn,'” he said on the show’s set in May 1990. Heavens my Tuesday!hosted by Christophe Dechavanne, the famous prostitute and defender of sex workers in Geneva, Grisélidis Réal. “He was an extraordinary person, who did a lot of good for humanity. […] I never spoke about it, but today I can no longer remain silent. He was an abbot, he was Abbot Pierre, and I saw him!” she said.
Three days later, Grisélidis Réal returned to the Morning on “this carefully considered revelation”, which she considered to be “a terrorist act”. “Our bombs are words. I want to warn men of the Church, of justice and politicians. I have thrown out a name to put pressure on them. They should stop treating us like plague victims”, complained the woman who, according to her son, later regretted her testimony.
“She told me: ‘If I had to do it again, I’m not sure I would do it again.’ Because the reactions were very violent. She was spat in the face in the street. She received a lot of insulting and threatening letters,” confided this Sunday to the 19/30 news RTS Igor Schimek. At the time, Grisélidis Réal’s revelations had in any case remained without follow-up.