The Bobigny prosecutor’s office announced on Wednesday that it would appeal the release the day before judo coach Alain Schmitt for acts of domestic violence against Olympic champion Margaux Pinot.
A swollen face, bruises and, above all, fear. Tuesday, Olympic judo champion Margaux Pinot told the Bobigny court of the blows received from her trainer and companion, Alain Schmitt. Believing “Not having enough proof of guilt”, the court had however released the man during the night. This Wednesday, the prosecution, which had required a one-year suspended sentence for “Very serious violence, even for a first-time offender”, announces that it is appealing this decision.
The first court decision makes a lot of people react. Especially since the judoka, two-time European champion in 2019 and 2020, posted this Wednesday morning on Twitter a photo of her face marked by the blows. “I was insulted, punched, my head hit the ground several times. And finally strangled ”, she says on the social network. Before denouncing the release pronounced the night before: “What is their slanderous defense worth against my injuries, and the blood strewn on the floor of my apartment?” What was missing? Death at the end, perhaps? “.
Retweeted more than 6,000 times, his testimony made several big names in judo react, as Teddy Riner : “What must be done to ensure that the victims are heard? That the attackers be found guilty? ”, indignant this world champion. Her teammate Clarisse Agbégnénou, also a gold medalist at the last Olympic Games, provided her support: “All the more shocked by the court’s decision. What does it take for the sanctions to fall, death? ”.
Neighbors alerted by screams
Alain Schmitt, 38, was arrested overnight from Saturday to Sunday at Blanc-Mesnil (Seine-Saint-Denis). The reason ? Margaux Pinot, a 27-year-old sportswoman, accuses him of having beaten her, pulled her hair and tried to strangle her during an altercation in her apartment. These are neighbors who, alerted by cries and calls for help, gave the alert. The athlete suffered from bruises, a broken nose and was prescribed 10 days of ITT.
According to France TV Sport, the row is believed to have started with the coach’s planned departure to Israel, where he is expected to take the reins of the women’s national team. “Over there in Israel, there will be an athlete weighing less than 70 kg who will beat you and I will make it a point of honor”, Alain Schmitt would have said. A sensitive subject since, if the judoka had returned from the Tokyo Olympics with a gold medal by team, in individual, she had lost.
The hearing on Tuesday was marked by contradictory versions. While Alain Schmitt gave the story of a fight that looked like “tornado” between two lovers with a tempestuous relationship, Margaux Pinot described her “fear” facing the punches raining down on her. “It was not a judo fight, it was punches”, described this Olympic mixed team champion at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, her face still swollen. For his part, Alain Schmitt, his face also marked by bruises, replied: “I have never hit a woman in my life, it’s nonsense”.
Interviewed by France TV Sport, Margaux Pinot’s lawyer, Stéphane Maugendre, supports: “She said at one point in her statements that if she had not been a judoka, she would have gone there”. Before adding: “What is needed now is for her to get past that. That’s why I asked him to come to the trial […]. And that she continues her career. ” Justice will take its course.
.
