The trial of the Balkany spouses, tried for having disseminated sexual photomontages of the first deputy of the town hall of Levallois-Perret, opened on Tuesday afternoon in Nanterre, in the presence of Patrick Balkany.
Mr. Balkany, 74, who was mayor of Levallois for thirty years (between 1983 and 1995 then 2001-2020) and deputy, appeared thin, with drawn features, on his arrival at court.
His wife Isabelle was not present before the 14th chamber of the Nanterre criminal court.
The former baron of Hauts-de-Seine was imprisoned twice as part of a conviction for tax evasion: for five months in prison in 2019-2020 and between February and August 2022.
"Prison is very hard, very difficult (...) It's hell to be there, we can't sleep, until two in the morning it screams, it hits. For a man of my age or anyone, it's difficult", he explained to the press on his release from prison.
His wife and former first deputy, aged 75, has never been incarcerated.
In early March, she was released on parole. Her husband announced at the end of February that she was suffering from pancreatic cancer.
In Nanterre, Tuesday, the couple is judged for "use, conservation or disclosure of a document or recording relating to words or images of a sexual nature and obtained by an invasion of the intimacy of the private life of others".
They are accused of having broadcast this photomontage in February 2021 with the aim of harming David-Xavier Weiss, the current first deputy to the mayor of Levallois, Agnès Pottier-Dumas, a former ally who has become a political opponent of the Balkany.
Since their departure from the town hall of Levallois in 2020, the Balkany have multiplied criticism on social networks against Agnès Pottier-Dumas, and her team.
During the investigation, the respondents explained that they found the photos in an envelope in a mailbox and then sent them to several people and in particular to Agnès Pottier-Dumas, to warn her.
A few days later, Mr. Weiss had filed a complaint for disclosure of a document of a sexual nature.
Patrick Balkany is also currently being prosecuted, in particular for "abuse of corporate assets" and "illegal taking of interests, in two other cases in Nanterre.
04/04/2023 15:41:45 - Nanterre (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
