Bétharram Affair: François Bayrou Claims to Have "Shown That Everything Was Unfounded" at the End of His Hearing

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He describes it as a "liberating moment." After being questioned for 5.5 hours by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into school violence, François Bayrou congratulated himself on Wednesday, May 14, for having "shown that everything was baseless." "There are accusations that I was unable to respond to. We had the opportunity to provide evidence. Fact by fact, accusation by accusation," he continued. Speaking to the deputies, he said he had been "smeared every day for four months."

The Prime Minister has been questioned since 5 p.m. before the commission of inquiry into school violence. In the case of physical and sexual violence at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram middle school and high school , which triggered the creation of this parliamentary commission of inquiry, he is accused by several witnesses of having been aware of the facts since the end of the 1990s . "Everything I knew, I learned from the press. (...) I did not benefit from any privileged information," François Bayrou defended himself at the start of his hearing.

The Prime Minister denounced the "dishonesty" of LFI co-rapporteur Paul Vannier. François Bayrou accused him of wanting to "fuel a scandalous trial." "It is disgraceful to implicate people when we have evidence to the contrary before our eyes," he said. The Prime Minister also accused the parliamentary commission of inquiry of not being "totally objective." He also questioned the statements of Françoise Gullung, a mathematics professor, who claims to have warned the Bayrou couple in 1994 and 1995, deeming her testimony "fallacious."

What did he know? Since February, François Bayrou has been making repeated denials, even though he has been contradicted by a former judge , a former police officer , and a retired teacher , who have already answered MPs' questions under oath. His eldest daughter, Hélène Perlant, has revealed that she herself was assaulted . The Prime Minister, who will also be under oath, will have to explain his knowledge of the violence reported today, but also his alleged intervention with the Pau public prosecutor in a rape case and his meeting with investigating judge Christian Mirande . His daughter assured Mediapart(New window) that her father did say he met the magistrate in 1998, while he was investigating a former director of Notre-Dame de Bétharram, Father Carricart, who was accused of rape.

A moment of truth for the head of government. "This will allow me to bring a certain number of elements to campaigns (...) whose sole aim is destruction. Not the search for truth, but destruction," the Prime Minister snarled on Saturday during a trip to Brest. He denounced to the AFP "repeated and scandalous accusations" which will give him "the opportunity to prove that all this was false."

Around 200 complaints filed. The Pau prosecutor's office has been investigating for a year around 200 complaints of violence, sexual assault, and rape at the facility between the 1970s and 1990s. After hearing from witnesses, victims, and former ministers, the parliamentary commission of inquiry plans to deliver its findings at the end of June.