The Bobigny Criminal Court on Tuesday 30 November released the coach and former member of the French judo team, Alain Schmitt, of domestic violence against Olympic champion Margaux Pinot, after a hearing having opposed contradictory versions.
“We don’t have enough evidence of guilt”
A tribunal is never there to say who is telling the truth and who is lying. In this case we do not have enough evidence of guilt. The court releases you
, declared late in the evening the president of the tribunal to Mr. Schmitt, after his immediate appearance.
The hearing was marked by contradictory versions. Mr. Schmitt delivered the story of a fight looking like tornado
between two lovers with a tempestuous relationship. Margaux Pinot described her fear
facing the punches that rained on her during the night from Saturday to Sunday in her apartment in Blanc-Mesnil (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Margaux Pinot in 2019. © Reuters
It wasn’t a judo fight, it was punches
, breathes Margaux Pinot, Olympic mixed team champion at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, her face swollen by the bruises surrounding her eyes.
The prosecution had requested a one-year suspended sentence for very serious violence, even for a first-time offender
.
Two different versions of the facts
The court has passed next to a number of dependent items
, like those neighbors who heard her calls for help, and to whom she took refuge, regretted Me Stéphane Maugendre, the lawyer of the judokate.
I never hit a woman in my life, that’s nonsense
, repeated at the hearing Alain Schmitt, white T-shirt and face marked by bruises.
The coach and former member of the French judo team was to leave France five hours after the incident, heading to Israel where he is expected to take the reins of the women’s national team.
Margaux Pinot with Madeleine Malonga, during the ceremony in honor of the Olympic and Paralympic champions in Paris on September 13, 2021. © AFP
Ms. Pinot, also supported by representatives of the French Judo Federation, evokes a psychological hold
from a trainer for whom she had admiration
but who constantly belittled her, making her lose confidence in her.
The individual record of Margaux Pinot, who fought in two categories (-63 and -70 kg), notably includes a world bronze medal in 2019, two titles of European champion (2019 and 2020) and two silver medals continental (2017, 2021).
With the strength that this man has, he has the ability to do much more than that
, pleaded Me Malik Behloul, counsel for Mr. Schmitt, affirming that the sportswoman had lied on all the line.
Bronze medalist at the 2013 Worlds (-81 kg), Alain Schmitt considered his departure for Israel as a real life change
after six years as a trainer with the Etoile Sportive du Blanc-Mesnil where he trained athletes like Madeleine Malonga.
.
