PARIS, June 5 – France’s Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called an urgent meeting Friday with the interior minister, justice minister and other officials following intense public criticism over a missing child case that has exposed serious flaws in the judicial system, according to government officials.
An 11-year-old girl named Lyhanna disappeared from the small southern French community of Fleurance on May 29 after leaving her middle school that afternoon.
The man arrested in connection with her disappearance – who is the father of one of Lyhanna’s classmates – had previously been the target of multiple sexual assault complaints involving children.
Politicians across the political spectrum, from far-right leader Jordan Bardella to Green party leader Marine Tondelier, have pointed to this case as evidence of serious problems in France’s justice system and its failure to shield women and children from sexual violence.
“We have a family who is mourning. We cannot forget that,” said Gregory Bobbato, the mayor of Fleurance, during a television interview with BFM. “It’s a real dysfunction of the state, of France.”
Community members organized massive search efforts involving hundreds of volunteers after Lyhanna’s disappearance. On Thursday, officials announced they had discovered a body that is currently being identified.
“As a minister, I am terrified, and as a father, even more so, by this despicable tragedy that is unfolding,” French justice minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters Thursday evening.
Darmanin announced that both the justice ministry and interior ministry will launch a combined investigation into the system failures that allowed the complaints against the suspect to go unaddressed, including a local prosecutor’s request for an investigation that was never carried out.
The minister promised that investigation results will be released publicly and appropriate measures will be implemented.
