At the Paris Criminal Court,
Graying hair, brushed mustache, glasses with large gold arms, black track jacket and white t-shirt, Rémy Daillet looks like a thug from the 1970s. The man has been on trial since Tuesday, with 14 other defendants, for the kidnapping and sequestration of little Mia M. in 2021, then aged 8, against a backdrop of conspiracy theories. He is also being prosecuted for preparing terrorist attacks, against vaccination centers or Jewish personalities, with the aim of overthrowing the French government. The defendant, who defines himself as a “writer, business manager, teacher, creator of a foundation”, risks up to ten years of criminal imprisonment.
Released under judicial supervision in June 2023 after three years in pre-trial detention, he was re-incarcerated in Fleury-Mérogis last August. And in court this Tuesday, his lawyer, Dylan Slama, intends to obtain his release; he is the only one to defend an incarcerated client in this trial, which is scheduled to end on October 9. Rémy Daillet has “his share of responsibility”, recognizes his counsel, while denouncing “a Daillet exception”, the fault of a particular severity of the investigating judge. Failure. The court considers that “pre-trial detention is the only way to keep your person available to justice”.
“All my requests to the magistrate are refused”
Before this decision, Rémy Daillet took the floor to defend his case, notes and pen in hand, not hesitating to cite articles of law in his favor. Reported several times this summer hundreds of kilometers from the city of Albi, which he was nevertheless prohibited from leaving, the accused could have made a request to the magistrate, the president pointed out. “All my requests to the magistrate are refused, even to go see my dying father whom I have not been able to see,” replies Rémy Daillet in a hoarse voice.
Apologizing for having a "cat in his throat", the sixty-year-old justifies this "getaway" more than 400 km away to "get cool", in order to prepare for the trial in better conditions than in "an apartment where it was 50°C and with children". He regrets not having access to the “plea” that he spent three years preparing for his defense and denounces complicated detention conditions: “I cannot call my wife, or even my lawyer. I live on fresh water and hard bread, it’s difficult.”
Narcissistic personality and potential danger
Alas, the prosecutor recalls that the defendant, suspected of being at the head of a violent network and ready to take action to “say goodbye to the Republic”, has repeatedly violated his judicial control. He speaks of “deliberate, numerous and voluntary incidents”, “behavior of distrust towards the judicial institution” and “a risk of flight which cannot be excluded”. Rémy Daillet, he says, “plays with the limits in terms of communication”.
The one who also called himself “France Royale” or “Mon Colonel” by his supporters considered that “the gendarmerie was at his service and that if he wanted to come at midnight, he would do so”, further pleads the prosecutor. During his judicial review, Rémy Daillet notably filmed himself on YouTube trying to cut his electronic bracelet.
The representative of the public prosecutor adds to his argument the psychological descriptions of Rémy Daillet made by the experts during the investigation. We hear pell-mell a “dysfunction in his perception of the world and others, in what he brings everything to himself”, “narcissistic personality traits”, a personality “not very balanced” and “likely to present a dangerous state for others. » And the prosecutor concludes: “If he is accused, it is because of him, if he is in the box, it is because of him. » Opposite, Rémy Daillet takes notes in his notebook, a smirk on his face.
