Why the defense attorney doesn’t understand the controversy caused by her videos

Having been heavily criticized after sharing several videos about the trial on social media, Me El Bouroumi has since explained herself. “I don’t understand what shocks you,” she said.

The Mazan rape trial gave rise to unusual scenes concerning certain defense lawyers, speaking publicly about the case through their social networks. Among them, Nadia El Bouroumi, representing two of the accused. After having challenged Gisèle Pélicot with a certain virulence during the hearing, as recalled The Dauphiné Libéréshe then published about twenty stories, ephemeral videos on her Instagram account, in which she evokes the exchanges held during the hearing. Videos which created a real uproar on social networks.

“These videos are an opportunity for me to explain the issues at stake in this trial”

Mocked and insulted on social media, Nadia El Bouroumi gave an interview to BFMTV on Friday, September 20, to explain herself about the videos posted on her social media. “I don’t understand what shocks you, because I’ve had an Instagram account for 4-5 years now, where I explain my working days beyond what may seem since not everyone knows the judicial system. These videos were an opportunity for me to explain the issues of this trial on the question of chemical submission,” she responded to the journalist from the continuous news channel who said he was shocked by the method used by the defense lawyer, namely, the publication of videos on Instagram.

Questioned on some of her interventions during the trial, in particular on the possibility that Gisèle Pélicot took part in one way or another in “sexual games”, Me El Bouroumi defends herself from having treated the main victim of the case as a guilty person: “I told her ‘Ms Pélicot, you are a victim, you have my full support and that of the defense lawyers’. My strategy is not to say that Ms Pélicot is not a victim.”

However, she assures that she is doing her job as a defense attorney, who pleads the innocence and acquittal of her two clients, by asking questions about the involvement or not of Gisèle Pélicot and about chemical submission. “II am a defense attorney, I ask her questions and I understand in the context of my intervention that ultimately, when she is under chemical submission, contrary to what the expert had told us, she is not a dead weight. It was simply, technically, to discuss chemical submission and the consequences that it can have. But you have to want to listen to what I say, you have to want to hear that I am a defense attorney and you also have to want not to take shortcuts. And that is very complicated, hence the use for me of my social networks to explain to people beyond what may appear in the media and newspapers.”

The fact remains that some of the words used by Nadia El Bouroumi with regard to Gisèle Pélicot may be shocking. The lawyer notably spoke of the “indecency” of Gisèle Pélicot during her intervention on BFMTV, referring to the victim’s choice to refuse the closed session for the broadcasting of certain images and videos of rapes during the hearings.

The tone rose during the trial between the two women after the broadcast of a series of 27 intimate photos found in Dominique Pélicot’s documents. Gisèle Pélicot, saying she felt “humiliated”, said: “They are trying to trap me, it’s obvious. They want to show that I lured these individuals to come to my house and that I consented.” As defense lawyer, Nadia El Bouroumi responded by raising her voice: “There was a debate about the public presentation of these photos. I am a woman, I am embarrassed! We did not want them to be broadcast in front of everyone. You are angry, but you are also responsible for this broadcast!” This Friday, September 20, the lawyer added that Gisèle Pélicot “started screaming” when she was about to respond and that she “took the microphone and asked for things to be put back in place”. And Nadia El Bouroumi added: “You consider that I yelled at her, you will appreciate it or not, it doesn’t matter. On the other hand, you only use the form, you do not retain the substance”. “What is the connection between what I say, what I explain, with the energy that is mine, and the indecency of Madame Pélicot?”

“The media decides on this trial”

Me El Bouroumi believes that the media could play a role in the decision of the Mazan rape trial: “I realize that these videos have been so distorted in terms of their content and their consequences (…) It is the treatment that you, the media, make of what can be said (…) in fact, we can’t do anything with you. We can’t do anything, and that is what I also explain in this trial. I have the impression ultimately that whatever we do, the decision is made, the media decide on this trial (…) I am the victim of your harassment and your insults by social networks. No, there is nothing unworthy.”

The main person concerned was also questioned by the BFMTV journalist about a video posted of her dancing to the song “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham!, meaning “wake me up before you go”. “I made a video because, following my interventions in the trial, I was insulted, humiliated, my children blocked their account, no one talks about that. I actually reacted with humor,” she justified herself.