The arguments of the accused and the efforts made by his lawyer will therefore not have been enough. Ten days after his indictment for “habitual violence against two of his former partners, rape and recording of images of a sexual nature without the person's consent”, the mayor of La Penne-sur-Huveaune, Nicolas Bazzucchi, was kept in pre-trial detention at the Luynes penitentiary center, we learned, Friday, December 27, from consistent judicial sources.
In this, the court largely followed the requisitions made on Thursday, December 26, by the prosecution before the investigating chamber of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal.
The Advocate General had in fact requested, Thursday December 26, his continued pre-trial detention invoking in particular the risks of pressure which would persist on various witnesses and victims that the investigators have not yet been able to hear as part of the procedure.
The elected official denies rapes, but recognizes insults
The elected official, aged 29, was heard by the investigating chamber of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal in the context of this summary liberty order. He had demanded his release and requested his placement under judicial supervisionas his lawyer, Me Jérôme Gay, put it. The mayor of La Penne contests most of the facts with which he is accusedwith the exception of insults and spitting on his ex-partners.
“During the preliminary investigation as well as before the investigating magistrate, Nicolas Bazzucchi denied the facts of aggravated rape and violence, however admitting certain behaviors likely to have criminal implications”, Marseille public prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said last week.
New testimony given in the proceedings
“The rule is respect for the presumption of innocence and freedom, the defense argued. When we have a profile that lends itself to it, when we have someone who has never had problems with the police, the justice system, when we have obligations of judicial control which will be respected, there is no there is no concrete reason to keep Mr. Bazzucchi in pre-trial detention. »
Since the events, the testimony of a senior official from the town hall of La Penne-sur-Huveaune has been added to the file, who allegedly confirmed the “violent behavior” of the mayor.
A new request for release next week?
Nicolas Bazzucchi was arrested Monday, December 16 shortly after six a.m. at his homeafter a series of investigations carried out by the Territorial Crime Division (DCT), while his home and his office at the town hall were searched. In August 2024, the Marseille prosecutor's office seized the DCT with an investigation. Suspicions against him run from January 2023 to July 2024.
His lawyer should file a new request for release next week in favor of his client.
Nicolas Bazzucchi, who is also a metropolitan councilor, was elected mayor of this municipality of more than 6,500 inhabitants in March 2022, after a partial municipal election caused by the resignation of elected officials from the majority.
