Lawyers of French Epstein ally demand probe into suicide

Paris - The lawyers of a top French modelling agent who killed himself in prison while charged with rape called for a probe Tuesday into what they said were the judiciary's failings in the case.

Jean-Luc Brunel -- a close associate of US billionaire Jeffrey Epstein -- was found dead in his Paris prison cell in February 2022, where he had been held since December 2021 charged with the rape of minors.

Brunel was briefly freed in late 2021 but then re-incarcerated on a Paris court of appeal ruling.

Epstein, a financier with a powerful network in the United States and abroad, was himself accused of raping young girls, but his suicide in a New York prison in August 2019 halted his prosecution.

The official probe into Brunel's death was concluded last year, but his lawyers now demand an "administrative inquiry" into what they said were "major dysfunctions" by the judiciary, which they are holding responsible for his death.

Lawyer Marianne Abgrall told AFP she and her colleague Christophe Ingrain had filed a request with the justice ministry for the inquest last month.

The justice ministry was not available for comment.

Brunel's suicide, his lawyers said at the time, was "not guided by guilt but a profound sense of injustice".

"His tragedy is that of a 75-year-old man crushed by a media-judicial system," they said in a statement.

Brunel had denied all charges.

Epstein link

Allegations from women who say they were abused in France in the Epstein case prompted French prosecutors to open their own investigation.

That probe focused on Brunel, who was accused in US court documents of rape and of procuring young girls for his friend Epstein.

Brunel began his career as a model scout and in 1978 was involved in setting up the prestigious Karin Models agency.

He then moved to the United States where he co-founded the Miami-based agency MC2.

In US court documents, Virginia Giuffre, a key plaintiff against Epstein, accused him of using her as a "sex slave" and said she had been forced to have sex with well-known politicians and businessmen, including Brunel.

She also alleged Brunel would bring girls as young as 12 to the United States and pass them on to friends, including Epstein.

Brunel had made several suicide attempts in prison, before being found hanged in his cell on February 19, 2022.

His lawyers said that the judiciary had failed to take into account their client's high suicide risk.

According to investigation documents seen by AFP, several other women came forward accusing Brunel of rape or sexual abuse. Some of the allegations went back to the 1970s, and most came up against France's statute of limitations.

Last week, a New York judge began to unseal the identities of people linked in court documents to Epstein.

The documents, which contain almost 1,000 pages of depositions and statements, notably include former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, who have not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

In Britain, police said last week there would be no investigation after Prince Andrew -- accused in the documents of groping a woman, which he denies -- was reported to police by an anti-monarchy group.(AFP)