Judge in French sex scandal

2003-05-28 15:53

France - A senior judge in the southern French city of Toulouse was replaced on Wednesday after being named in an investigation into allegations of a sadomasochistic sex-ring supplied by a convicted serial killer.

Jean Volff, 65, the city's chief prosecutor, described the claims made against him by two ex-prostitutes as "totally implausible," but he conceded his position had become untenable.

He became the first victim of a scandal which broke two weeks ago when newspapers reported suspicions that one of France's most notorious murderers Patrice Alegre may have enjoyed the protection of a network of influential figures in Toulouse.

Last week the city's former mayor Dominique Baudis, who now heads the national broadcast regulator, revealed that he too had been named in witness statements, but he described the allegations as an "outrageous frame-up" orchestrated by the pornographic industry.

Naming Volff's replacement on Wednesday, Justice Minister Dominique Perben said he hoped he would ensure "the restoration of justice that is serene, effective, which hides nothing, goes to the root of things and preserves the presumption of innocence due to all."

Alegre, 34, was convicted last year of five murders and six rapes in the early 1990s, but a special police team is looking into allegations that he may have committed many more.

The team has interviewed two former prostitutes - named as Fanny and Patricia - who told them that Alegre acted as vicious enforcer for a Toulouse vice racket, beating, raping and sometimes killing the girls who worked for him.

But the prostitutes also alleged that Alegre furnished cocaine and women for a group of city notables who staged sex orgies in municipal and court buildings, and named a number of well-known individuals who they said they had seen taking part.

According to newspaper reports, the investigation is centering on claims officials may have arranged to have some of Alegre's murders overlooked or re-classified as suicides in order to prevent him revealing their names.

In an interview on Tuesday, Volff said there might be elements of truth in the prostitutes' statements but "the general picture is certainly greatly exaggerated."

"It seems to me totally implausible that such a network could have been set up in Toulouse with so many people, especially so many magistrates," Volff told L'Est-Republicain newspaper.

In an emotional appearance on national television on May 18, Baudis - who was Toulouse's conservative mayor from 1983 to 2001 - angrily denied any relationship with "Alegre, the world of pimping or the organisers of these barbaric parties."

He said the evidence against him must have been concocted by criminals linked to the porn business, angry at steps he has taken to limit sexually explicit material on television. He said he planned to sue the prostitutes for slander.

No evidence beyond the prostitutes' testimony has so far been produced to support the conspiracy. Another magistrate named by them, Marc Bourrague, admitted he had unwittingly had a drink with Alegre but denied their claims that they met regularly to choose girls for the orgies.

Commenting on the scandal on Wednesday, Liberation newspaper said it cast a sad light on the air of suspicion and secrecy that prevails across much of France's judicial establishment.

"It is not the sexuality of some provincial notables that matters... but rather the malfunctioning of a closed and uncontrolled system," it said.

- AFX