“Serious violation of road traffic rules, offense committed twice.” This is what the Geneva Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses Omar Sy of. Via a criminal order dated at the end of May, the French actor, known for “Intouchables” or the series “Lupin” among others, was sentenced to a suspended financial sentence for two speeding violations committed last summer.
On July 19, at the end of the afternoon, the motorcycle registered in France was flashed by radar at 92 km/h on the Annecy road, in Troinex, while the maximum speed authorized at this location is 50 km /h, i.e. an excess of 37 km/h with a safety margin of 5 km/h. Then, the next day at the end of the morning, the two-wheeler was pinched while traveling at 98 km/h on the road from Thonon to Cologny, where a maximum of 60 km/h is authorized. The court found that the speed exceeded 33 km/h (minus the 5 km/h margin).
Less than two months later, the police issued two notices to the accused, to which he did not respond. Then, at the end of February, the Public Prosecutor’s Office sent the actor a registered letter inviting him to decide on the alleged facts, “which came back with the words “noticeable and unclaimed mail””. Rebelote at the beginning of April, by mail simple, to which the accused did not respond, “thus making use of his right to remain silent”.
Was the 46-year-old Frenchman actually behind the wheel of the incriminated vehicle when he was flashed? In its decision, the Prosecutor’s Office noted that the defendant is indeed the owner of the two-wheeler, “however, he did not transmit the slightest document capable of demonstrating that he was not the author of the alleged offenses, being further emphasized that he also did not provide the contact details of other people likely to have driven the vehicle in question at the time of the alleged events.” Thus, the actor “did not succeed in establishing or making it likely that he could not have committed the offenses”.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has charged against Omar Sy a violation on two occasions of article 90 paragraph 2 of the law on road traffic (LCR) which punishes “the fact of creating a serious danger for the safety of others or take the risk through a serious violation of a road traffic rule. A monetary penalty was imposed, with an amount “set according to the personal and economic situation”: 105 day fine at 300 francs per day, or more than 30,000 francs. Given the absence of a record in Switzerland, a reprieve was granted for 3 years. And “as an immediate sanction”, the forty-year-old received a fine of 6,300 francs. The procedural costs, i.e. 260 francs, are also his responsibility. Please note that the deadline for opposing this criminal order is still ongoing.
This is not the first time that Omar Sy has been caught for speeding. In 2008, he was notably checked at 185 km/h on his motorbike in Yvelines (F), instead of 110 km/h. A speed which was then reduced to 175 km/h. He had to leave his machine there, the French press reported at the time.
