Bétharram Affair: After his hearing, François Bayrou congratulates himself on having "shown that everything was without foundation"

François Bayrou was questioned for more than five hours by the National Assembly's commission of inquiry into the case of sexual and physical violence at Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram.

The Prime Minister has repeatedly attacked the commission, "casting doubt on those who write the reports and those who monitor" the government's actions.

The head of government also attacked co-rapporteur Paul Vannier, accusing him of having "distorted reality with each intervention," denouncing the "biased" information from the La France Insoumise MP.

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After more than five hours of hearings, François Bayrou believes that, for him, "it is a liberating moment."

"This is the first time I have been able to defend myself in four months," the head of government noted.

After his hearing, Prime Minister François Bayrou congratulated himself on having "shown that everything was baseless." "There have been accusations that have been made for four months without me being able to respond," the head of government lamented.

The latter is pleased to have had "the opportunity to provide, not denials or arguments, but evidence" and "to show that everything was baseless." "I cannot allow the truth to be so wiped off the map," explains François Bayrou, after more than five hours of hearing.

The Prime Minister deplores the fact that the "victims" were "totally absent" from the questions during his hearing.

François Bayrou advocates the creation of an "independent authority" on violence against children.

This high authority would include "a scientific council" and a "victims' council." It would concern "all educational establishments" as well as "sports associations," "cultural associations," and "families," the Prime Minister explained, explaining that he was inspired by a law adopted in Germany.

"We all have a share of responsibility" for violence against children, admitted Prime Minister François Bayrou.

"I bear no responsibility for what I was accused of. I did not cover up any practices whatsoever. I had no inside information. I did not stand by when I discovered the cases, and I never intervened in any case," the Prime Minister stated.

"But for the rest, we all have a share of responsibility, all of us, regardless of the department we come from," the head of government continued.

François Bayrou believes that the purpose of his hearing is to "corner" him and "force him to resign."

"You only questioned me about myself, about my responsibility, about what I had or had not done, about the suspicion of having intervened, an unbearable suspicion, in the case to protect paedophiles. The entire hearing revolved around that," said the Prime Minister after about five hours of questioning.

"I would have preferred to talk about the victims," ​​but "it was about one thing, sorry to speak a little trivially, it was about cornering me and forcing me to resign," the head of government affirmed.

"Your allegations about this case are false." In a hearing before the National Assembly, Prime Minister François Bayrou addressed his relationship with Judge Christian Mirande, who is in charge of the Bétharram affair.

"He never betrayed the secrecy of the investigation and I never asked him to betray the secrecy of the investigation," the Prime Minister told MPs.

For Alain Esquerre, spokesperson for the Bétharram victims' association, François Bayrou "assumes his responsibilities" and "is not spared" by the National Assembly's commission of inquiry into the case of sexual and physical violence at Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram. "It's part of the democratic process to be able to speak before a parliamentary commission of inquiry," Alain Esquerre said.

"The fight is for the victims," ​​he reminds on BFMTV.

"It wasn't François Bayrou who attacked us. There was an entire educational community, and these people don't explain themselves, don't express themselves. They're the ones we need to call to account; politics is something else," he said on our channel.

"The Prime Minister seems to me to be astonishingly amateurish," reacted Françoise Gullung. The former professor and whistleblower in the Bétharram affair considered that François Bayrou was "talking a bit of nonsense" in front of the deputies, the latter claiming to have been informed of the violence at the time only by the press.

"It seems to me that in her position, one of the first tasks is to have someone who will do a press review for you and point out the essential elements," Françoise Gullung continued on BFMTV.

"It is clear that he is in denial of any responsibility that he might have," adds the former professor.

"This hearing does not mark the end of a process, but rather underlines its scope, urgency, and necessity," said Alain Esquerre, spokesperson for the Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram victims' collective, during a press briefing.

"Our fight will not stop with a single testimony or a hearing, whatever it may be," he continued. "For us, the victims, François Bayrou does not represent the central issue in our fight (...) he is neither the sole cause nor the only witness to this tragedy, but he embodies, like other public officials, an era in which warning signs were neglected, ignored or minimized."

"I know of nothing worse, more abject than adults using children as sexual objects," says François Bayrou.

"For me, humanity cannot sink lower than adults taking children as sexual partners. It's a filthy abomination," the Prime Minister continued, saying he was testifying "as a man."

François Bayrou defends the report he commissioned in Bétharram when he was Minister of National Education in 1996.

"It was a real audit," the Prime Minister defended, with "the hearing of 20 people between 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m."

"We consider it to be a cursory, superficial investigation in which mainly teachers and management were interviewed," replied co-rapporteur Violette Spillebout.

The report was commissioned after a boy was punished after being sent outside the facility in the middle of the winter night. His father then took him to the emergency room. The doctor who treated him mentioned the risk of amputation.

"We may have disagreements, but I would like to tell you that this commission of inquiry is not biased. I do not want anyone to question the work of the commission of inquiry," replied co-rapporteur Violette Spillebout (Renaissance) to François Bayrou.

"We interviewed 140 people in total and collected numerous documents," the MP added.

François Bayrou is trying to implicate Professor Françoise Gullung, a teacher at Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram in the 1990s.

On TF1 and then before the commission of inquiry , this mathematics teacher described a scene involving Élisabeth Bayrou, the wife of François Bayrou, who taught catechism there.

"This is a fabrication under oath, these are fabrications," the Prime Minister added.

François Bayrou claims that the comments made by Françoise Gullung, a teacher at Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram in the 1990s, before the commission of inquiry are not those that can be found online in the National Assembly report.

"I question those who write" the reports (the Assembly officials, editor's note) "and those who control" the government's actions by appointing the commission of inquiry.

"I didn't feel that this commission was completely objective," accuses François Bayrou, referring to the sworn hearing of Françoise Gullung, a teacher at Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram in the 1990s.

On TF1 and then before the commission of inquiry , this mathematics teacher described a scene involving Élisabeth Bayrou, the wife of François Bayrou, who taught catechism there.

"This is a commission of inquiry, the goal is to monitor the state and its actions. We are within our prerogatives in questioning you," replied the commission's president, Fatiha Keloua Hachi.

François Bayrou is questioned about the report of the academic inspection which revealed dysfunctions in Bétharram when he was then Minister of National Education in 1996.

"This report," the conclusions of which were revealed by Le Figaro, "was a breath of fresh air for me because I had forgotten its terms."

"I had no documents or notes. I was completely helpless," the head of government continued.

Tensions are rising between the chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee, Fatiha Keloua Hachi, and François Bayrou, following questions posed by co-rapporteur Paul Vannier.

"You have to get used to it and answer the question you were asked," the socialist MP asks her.

François Bayrou's response: "I will not allow the rapporteur's method to prosper." "I repeat that your statements are biased."

"You try to distort reality with every intervention," François Bayrou complains, confronted by questions from Paul Vannier, the co-rapporteur of the commission of inquiry.

The LFI MP is currently questioning him about the Prime Minister's answers before the National Assembly last February. "My version has not changed," the Prime Minister insists.

On February 11, François Bayrou explained that he "had never been informed of anything."

On February 18, he finally explained that he had learned of the accusations of rape against a priest in Betharram in the 1990s.

It is now the turn of Paul Vannier, the co-rapporteur (LFI) to ask François Bayrou if he "maintains under oath that he has no information" on the violence committed in Bétharram.

"I maintain that I have had no information other than through the press, I have not benefited from any privileged information," the Prime Minister replied.

"My connection with Bétharram is because I was a parent of a student 40 years ago," François Bayrou continued to explain during his opening remarks.

"I have no memory, no documents" relating to sexual or physical assaults in Bétharram in recent decades, the Prime Minister added.

"I don't remember entering the school," François Bayrou continues.

"The first word that comes to mind when I think of this hearing is 'finally,'" François Bayrou began before the commission of inquiry.

"This hearing is very important for the girls and boys who have been victims of sexual violence for decades, in Bétharram and elsewhere," the Prime Minister added.

"This affair has led to a growing number of threats, statements, and demands for resignations," the centrist, however, deplored, denouncing "an exploitation."

The chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee, Fatiha Keloua Hachi, reminded François Bayrou that the commission of inquiry "is waiting for the truth."

The Prime Minister then took the oath of office, vowing to "tell the whole truth."

The Prime Minister has just appeared before the commission of inquiry.

The chairwoman of the Cultural Affairs Committee, Fatiha Keloua Hachi, began speaking and detailed the people already interviewed by the commission of inquiry.

François Bayrou's hearing begins at 5 p.m. with a question from the president of the Culture Committee, Fatiha Keloua-Hachi.

The Prime Minister will then have to answer questions from two co-rapporteurs of the commission of inquiry , Paul Vannier and Violette Spillebout, for around 90 minutes.

Finally, the members of the committee of inquiry will be able to ask questions. The rapporteurs will then take over in case of further questions before the committee chair closes the discussion.

After having already explained that she herself was a "victim" in the Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram affair, the daughter of Prime Minister François Bayrou spoke in the columns of Le Monde this morning.

"Let him get on with it now! He's got what it takes," urges Hélène Perlant, the eldest of his six children.

We summarize the comments of François Bayrou's eldest daughter here .

Pressure is mounting on François Bayrou, less than an hour before his hearing before the commission of inquiry.

"For François Bayrou, this is his last chance to produce a moment of truth, of clarity," said MP François Ruffin on BFMTV.

"We haven't yet had our MeToo on violence against children," the Picardy MP continued.

Paul Vannier (LFI) and Violette Spillebout (Renaissance) are leading the commission of inquiry hand in hand. On paper, however, everything separates them, from their party to their approach to politics.

However, the two parliamentarians report a real understanding, both on the ground and in hearings, to the point of planning a future joint bill.

"As sincerely as I do, she wants to prevent another Betharram," explains Paul Vannier.

We tell you how this tandem works in our article .

François Bayrou has been preparing for his hearing for several days, surrounded by three close associates. These training sessions have found space in his schedule to ensure he's ready to answer all the questions.

"We must be serious, provide our evidence as we did in the case of the Modem parliamentary assistants, and above all, Bayrou must not get angry," confided one of the centrist's companions.

Find our article on the behind the scenes of his preparation before his audition .

The Prime Minister will take the oath of office before the commission of inquiry and promise to tell the truth.

In the event of "false testimony" before the commission of inquiry, François Bayrou risks a prison sentence of between three and seven years, as well as a fine of between 45,000 and 100,000 euros.

The Prime Minister has always denied having any influence on the legal proceedings, as he was not aware of the facts alleged.

But Christian Mirande, the former investigating judge in charge of the case, claimed on BFMTV that he met privately with François Bayrou in 1998 to discuss the matter.

The former magistrate maintained his version of events before the commission of inquiry . François Bayrou's daughter, Hélène Perlant, also confirmed that her father had indeed met with this judge .

Another testimony before the deputies: that of Alain Hontangs, a former gendarme who also confirmed the meeting between François Bayrou and Christian Mirande.

Since February, when the first revelations were made, the Prime Minister has repeatedly stated that he had "never been informed of any violence" in the school or had "never been warned of the facts which gave rise to complaints or reports" .

Problem: several witnesses claim the opposite, like Françoise Gullung, a teacher at Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram in the 1990s. On TF1 and then before the commission of inquiry , this mathematics teacher described a scene involving Élisabeth Bayrou, the wife of François Bayrou, who taught catechism there.

Our article dedicated to the questions that François Bayrou will have to answer

The Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram affair was revealed last February.

Among the facts mentioned within this school in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region, there are masturbation and fellatio imposed on or undergone by students, corporal punishment and even threats and humiliation from teachers or supervisors over several decades.

The Pau public prosecutor's office is currently examining nearly 200 complaints.

One of François Bayrou's daughters, Hélène Perlant, revealed in a book that she too was a victim of physical violence, without ever telling her parents .

Hello everyone, welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to François Bayrou's hearing before the commission of inquiry into violence in schools. The Prime Minister will have to explain the case of sexual and physical violence at Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram, a school where several of his children attended.

You can follow our special edition on BFMTV and BFM2.