Trial of the Mazan rapes: Nadia El Bouroumi banned from practicing after a controversial video

The regional disciplinary council of the Nîmes Court of Appeal sifted through the grievances against the Avignon lawyer. While she was acquitted for her "debriefing" videos of the hearings, it was the so-called "Wake Me Up" sequence that led to the sanction. In this video posted on social media, the 46-year-old lawyer filmed herself singing and dancing at the wheel to the Wham! hit "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". A musical choice perceived as a tasteless provocation, when the heart of the trial concerned the chemical submission imposed by Dominique Pelicot on his wife to deliver her to strangers.

The Avignon Bar Association, which had demanded 18 months of suspension for "breaches of moderation and delicacy", was therefore partially followed. But Nadia El Bouroumi rejects this decision, which she contests "with the greatest firmness". Her lawyers, Me Khadija Aoudia and Me Olivier Morice, announced that she would appeal, invoking the lawyer’s "freedom of expression" which, according to them, includes the right to a "provocative, even cynical" tone and should not be "sterilized".

In her defense, the lawyer does not hesitate to play the political comparison card. Her lawyers denounce a blatant "inequality of treatment", drawing a parallel between the fate of their client and that of former President Nicolas Sarkozy. They bitterly point out that the latter retains the right to practice the legal profession "despite a criminal conviction that has become final", while Nadia El Bouroumi is suspended for an Instagram video.