Forty years after the death of little Grégory in the Vosges, “we must continue to work”, said Philippe Astruc this Wednesday. The public prosecutor at the Dijon Court of Appeal has taken control of this case since last summer.
“We work with serenity and self-sacrifice, because we owe the truth to the victims. And that must continue”explains Philippe Astruc, public prosecutor at the Dijon Court of Appeal, Wednesday October 16. The magistrate took over the investigation file the Gregory affairthis four year old child found dead in Vologne, in the Vosges, on October 16, 1984. “As long as there are actions to be taken, as long as we can move forward in the truth, we must continue to work”he assures.
For the Attorney General, serenity “is essential in any criminal case”. “Our job is to put things at a safe distance”continues Philippe Astruc. “It’s an extraordinary case, we all know that. And the more extraordinary a case, the more we have to work in a classic way on the fundamentals: the presumption of innocence, the secrecy of the investigation, clearly distinguishing what is not is just a hypothesis of what is an established element… Trying to go beyond the halo that surrounds 40 years of investigations.”
Do not feed “a form of illusion”
The magistrate does not want “make comments on current actions”particularly on these new expertises ordered in March after a request from the lawyers of Grégory’s parents. “I think it is useless to leaf through and instruct with an open book”he says. “If there should be a significant breakthrough, naturally I will communicate. But I do not wish to fuel any form of illusion.”
“We continue to carry out technical and scientific examinations, we also benefit from advances in science, but these are only elements”specifies Philippe Astruc. “It must always be compared with the 17,765 procedural documents that there are in this case. So it is not an expertise which will cut the Gordian knot of this case.” Among the avenues that remain to be analyzed : the DNA present on nine seals, the raven’s writings and the recorded threatening calls, which are still the subject of investigations.
The importance of the “human dimension”
“We work quietly and we try as much as possible to get closer to the manifestation of the truth”says the Dijon prosecutor. He takes the example of the attack on rue des Rosiersin 1982, “which saw its legal outcome a few years ago”. “So we have a duty to be persistent. There is a little four-year-old child who has been waiting for justice for 40 years. There are two parents who have been waiting for justice for 40 years. I think that the duty of the judicial institution is “is to continue working as long as there are things to investigate.”
The magistrate also specifies having met “recently” Gregory’s parents. “For me, it was important”confides Philippe Astruc. “I do it as much as possible in criminal cases because of course, there are the reports, the judicial material on which we work. But there is also a human dimension. I believe that it is important that victims can know who is working on the case of their lives and to have this human contact between a prosecutor general and victims, for me, it is essential.
