THE FAMILY OF FRENCH filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was found dead in west Cork in December 1996, has welcomed the High Court’s ruling that Ian Bailey should be extradited to France to face questioning over her death.
Bailey has always denied any involvement in the death and is expected to appeal the ruling.
Toscan du Plantier’s mother, Marguerite Bouniol, said yesterday that she wouldn’t blame Bailey for appealing, and the family would have done the same thing if the ruling been different.
Bouniol spoke of her family’s struggle for justice for her daughter, according to the Irish Daily Mail, and recalled the “long periods of despair and doubt” since her death.
She said that “for many years, the only people leading the battle for justice for our daughter were ourselves”, although the family has met Irish people “every year” who gave them their support. Bouniol said that “things really moved forward” in their campaign when her brother founded an organisation to continue the fight.
Under French legislation, the French courts have jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute someone in relation to the murder of a French citizen, according to the BBC. However, French authorities cannot compel anyone to travel to France for questioning.
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