Lawyer for accused in Mazan rape trial Nadia El Bouroumi faces 18 months of suspension

At the Mazan rape trial, ^Nadia El Bouroumi caused controversy by dancing to the song "Wake Me Up Before You Go-go" in her car on September 20. But these images were not the reason for her appearance last week before the regional disciplinary council for lawyers at the Nîmes Court of Appeal, which requested an 18-month suspension.

On Wednesday, February 19, the lawyer with nearly 53,000 Instagram followers was summoned by the disciplinary board for suspected taking of images in a courtroom, which were subsequently published on social media. The events allegedly took place between 2021 and 2023, well before the Mazan rape trial, where the lawyer pleaded for two of the fifty-one accused, Jean-Marc L. and Omar D.

^Mr. El Bouroumi's lawyers, ^Mr. Olivier Merice and ^Mr. Khadija Aoudia, invoked freedom of expression. "I am extremely confident about the outcome of this disciplinary procedure," ^Mr. Merice assured Le Figaro , indicating that the capture of images had not been proven.

A few months earlier, at the Avignon court, ^Mr. El Bouroumi had notably attracted attention for his virulent tone towards the civil party, Gisèle Pelicot. The criminal lawyer had thus declared that she considered that the septuagenarian was "responsible" for the broadcasting of the images at the hearing, calling into question the publicity of the debates to the detriment of a closed session. The lawyer had subsequently filed a complaint for "harassment": " following my interventions in the context of the trial, I was insulted, humiliated ," she had explained on BFMTV .

On Instagram, she presents herself as a "lawyer" but also as a "life coach" . During the Mazan trial, she published her impressions of the hearing on her account almost daily. Whether in front of the camera or behind the wheel of her car, the lawyer debriefs, like an influencer: "I'm leaving the Pelicot trial, wooouh!" , she says, three weeks after the start of the hearing. Before continuing: "We posted photos of Madame in positions that, indeed... posed a problem, since for a few days, she had been explaining to us that she had never, never, never participated in anything" .

The web then went into overdrive when ^Ms. El Bouroumi posted a video of her shaking her hips in her car to the beat of the hit by the group Wham! The video was deeply shocking: while chemical submission is at the heart of the Mazan trial, the lawyer can be seen dancing to this song whose refrain is none other than "wake me up before you leave" . On BFMTV, ^Ms. El Bouroumi defended herself from any reference to Gisèle Pelicot. She assured that she had chosen this song "with humor" , to "say that you should get up early to muzzle me ", in reaction to the harassment of which she said she was the victim. These images are, today, in no way the subject of a referral to the disciplinary council.

Four days ago, the lawyer posted a video on her Instagram account in which the criminal lawyer claims to have "created this account with a single ambition: to share knowledge and create value." "Because knowledge is power. And I want to make this power accessible to all those who, too often, do not have the keys to understanding the law," she says. Before adding: "no, this account was never made to create buzz. (...) I am here to transmit, equip and give keys." The decision has been put under advisement and should be rendered on April 23. In the event of disciplinary sanction, Ms. Merice and Ms. Aoudia tell us that they will appeal ^.