Stéphane Plaza accuses the Paris prosecutor's office of having "rigged" his trial for domestic violence and attacks the State

Stéphane Plaza was sentenced on February 18 to a one-year suspended prison sentence for repeated violence against a former partner. He has appealed.

During a press conference held at the prestigious Maison de la Chimie in Paris, the former presenter reiterated that he was "innocent." "I will fight to the end to ensure the truth is recognized," he assured.

He also accused the Paris prosecutor's office of having "intentionally maneuvered to deceive the court and obtain" his conviction.

His lawyers, Julien Roelens and Antonin Gravelin-Rodriguez, announced that they had sued the State "for serious failures of justice" in this case.

Contacted by AFP, the public prosecutor's office had not responded by early afternoon.

At the heart of the accusations is the dismissal of a complaint for cyberstalking that he had filed in June 2023 against three former partners, delivered just before his trial for domestic violence, in which he was tried for acts committed against two of his ex-partners, Amandine and Paola.

He was convicted for the facts concerning Amandine, but acquitted for those concerning Paola.

According to the notice to the victim, submitted by Mr. Plaza's defense, the cyberbullying proceedings were closed on the grounds that the investigation had "failed to identify" the perpetrators of the offense.

"This is false, since the main perpetrator of the cyberbullying was identified in the proceedings by the Instagram requisition, she acknowledged it in the report, and the summary report indicated by the judicial police officer states in extenso that she was identified," said Mr. Gravelin-Rodriguez.

The investigators' summary report, also presented by the defense, indicates that Paola admitted in a free hearing to having used fake profiles on Instagram "but for the sole purpose of prevention," to warn women in a relationship with Stéphane Plaza "of his multiple infidelities, the fact that he transmits sexually transmitted infections and his violent acts."

The prosecution produced "a certificate stating that there was no link between Stéphane Plaza's accusers and the harassment," said Mr. Gravelin-Rodriguez, who considered it to be a "forgery of public documents."

"And this certificate was produced, was used in the trial and the court (...) noted it and retained it in its judgment," he added, believing that this "totally upset what the balance of a criminal trial should be."

"The cyberstalking charges against my client were dismissed, and even so, they are not related to the characterization of domestic violence committed well in advance," responded Paola's lawyer, Clotilde Lepetit.

The methods used by Stéphane Plaza and his lawyers "are not only an additional act of violence against the victims, but are also those of those who are not happy to have had to submit to the law," she added.