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An Air France professional was released a year ago following a complaint from two flight attendants. He is on appeal on Tuesday.
An Air France airline pilot, suspected of sexual assault on flight attendants and released at first instance by the Créteil criminal court, will be tried on Tuesday by the Paris Court of Appeal.
Two flight attendants from the Transavia company accuse this 55-year-old captain of having attacked them on a plane at Orly airport, by rubbing against them. The man denies the charges against him.
Both denounce attacks that allegedly took place during different flights in November 2018. At first instance, they had also reported recurring sexist and misogynistic jokes from him during flights he was working on.
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In January 2021, the Créteil court acquitted the pilot, noting that the “intention” of the alleged sexual assault “could not in this case be characterized in view of the nature of the furtive gestures described and their extreme brevity of a few seconds, according to the statements of the complainants”.
“The authenticity”, of their feelings, “is not to be called into question” but “cannot on its own establish the guilt of the defendant”, added the court.
“It was a personal fight to initiate proceedings against him, but it was also a fight for other colleagues, such as those who never dared to speak out. I fear it will start again in the future,” one of the complainants told AFP.
“The release was a shock. We did not understand the court decision: we were several plaintiffs and its intention was obvious,” she added.
Contacted by AFP, the lawyers for the civil parties and the defense did not wish to speak before the hearing.
(AFP)