The search for truth in the Sophie Tuscan du Plantier cases continues.
French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier's body was found two days before Christmas in 1996, in the lane leading up to her holiday home in Toormore, between the villages of Schull and Goleen in County Cork.
Despite a massive garda investigation, no-one has been charged with her murder. Each year the family of Sophie Toscan du Plantier travel to west Cork to remember her. As in previous years her parents Marguerite and Georges Bouniol lay a wreath at the small celtic cross marking the spot where their daughters body was discovered.
This year they announce the launch of a new campaign called the Association for Truth about the Murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier (ASSOPH). They are striving to have the laws around victims’ rights in murder investigations to be harmonised across Europe. This would allow them access to post-mortem results and the family are also hopeful of new contact between the French authorities and An Garda Síochána.
ASSOPH vice-president Jean Marc Peyron explains,
Time has come also for the Irish authorities to give more information about what’s in the file and we have hope, we hope we will have a short term result very soon which includes access to the postmortem report.
While gardaí say the investigation into Sophie's murder is on-going and active, her family believes that because they do not have access to the criminal investigation file on the case, eleven years of information remains unknown.
Speaking to the media through interpreter Francoise Letellier, Magureite Bouniol says she will not rest until justice is done.
Would you if it was your child, would you just go home and sort of say well that’s it, everything is finished, everything is over, because you are not allowed to know what happened, because the law doesn’t allow you to know what happened.
ASSOPH believes that despite the complexities of different legal systems in Europe, everyone should step back and recognise that victims' families have universal rights.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 27 January 2008. The reporter is Conor Mark Kavanagh.
