Gérald Darmanin wants to extend the maximum duration of police custody from 48 to 72 hours “in the case of aggravated sexual violence and feminicide”

The new Minister of Justice defended on TF1 a “strong proposal” which would be a “lesson” after the Mazan rape trial.

For Gérald Darmanin, “society must learn a lesson” of the Mazan rape trial, which saw Dominique Pelicot and his 50 co-defendants convicted by the criminal court. Thursday, December 26, the new Minister of Justice defended a proposal supposed to help the work of investigators “in cases of aggravated sexual violence and feminicide”. “I propose that (…) police custody could last up to 72 hours”compared to 48 hours currently for certain crimes and misdemeanors, he said, on TF1.

“This makes it possible to protect the woman who has been threatened, violated, attacked, to make findings with the technical and scientific police and it makes it possible to question the person at greater length. It is a strong proposition”detailed Gérald Darmanin, a week after the end of this historic trial with its suffocating atmosphere. “The public prosecutor will be able to lift this custody whenever he wishes”added the minister.