In France, in the judicial chapter, an extremely rare decision: the revision court annuls the conviction of Farid El Haïry, accused of rape in 1998 by a 15-year-old high school student, when he was 17, and found guilty in 2003 and imprisoned for things he never did. This decision follows the retraction of his accuser.
“ The case is over, this decision clears you of all condemnation “: these are the words of the president of the court of revision which clears Farid El Haïry and recognizes in fact the miscarriage of justice.
This is the 12th time since 1945 that justice has cleared a convicted person. His accuser, at the end of 2017, admits having invented the facts, 19 years after the first allegations. Stuck, she says, in the grip of a family secret “.
The young woman is actually the victim of repeated incest from her older brother against whom she will eventually file a complaint. A brother, at the time out of school, a petty criminal and known to the police.
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Farid El Haïry then appears as the ideal culprit. For years, he was registered in the file of perpetrators of sexual offences, he pointed to the gendarmerie every year and spent almost a year in prison, for a crime he did not commit.
His innocence is therefore proven. His name will be deleted from police and judicial files. A claim for compensation will be launched, announces his lawyer. Relieved, this Thursday morning, at the end of the hearing, Farid El Haïry declared: ” All I can tell you is that I don’t wish anyone to go through what I went through. »