Last weekend, January 21 and 22, 2022, in the premises of "Atelier 109", a cultural and artistic center in Nice south of France, was held an exhibition and sale of artworks soberly entitled "Save Otom" bringing together a number of renowned Nice artists of which Ben.
In a timely report by BFM TV produced on the occasion, the artists and relatives of Otom praise his kindness, his generosity, say how they miss him and that they wish him back. The purpose of this “Save Otom” exhibition? "Saving" the graffiti artist Thomas Debatisse, alias Otom. But saving him from what? Was he kidnapped by criminals? Is a mafia after him? Is he under a fatwa? Is he in mortal danger? Still according to BFM TV, it is a matter of saving him from the tragedy which changed his life in April 2021. Okay. But which drama? Was he injured? Was his family or property attacked? Have dark, lawless individuals cowardly attacked his honor and dignity? And who could have had the impudence of attacking the city of Nice darling boy, the one the cultural deputy to the mayor Christian Estrosi describes as "adorable, very nice, appreciated by all"? The one that Robert Roux, Christian Estrosi's cultural deputy, praises for having painted "the palisades of the Nice city tramway site", and who still according to of Robert Roux has made an "incredible journey" by "changing mentalities in Nice (no less) on "graffiti" and "freedom of expression"? The one with whom Brian Caddy his artist friend has been painting “for fifteen years after working with him” and who, in his own words, “has always done everything to share art, bring people together, transmit love”? But who could have attacked Saint Otom, this untouchable and brilliant Thomas Debatisse, to the point of ruining his life and provoking this surge of solidarity, all in Niçoise salad and glitter?
Nobody. Nobody took it out on Thomas Debatisse alias Otom. Nobody. No, nobody. Someone's life was turned upside down and ended forever on the gloomy evening of April 27, 2021, but it's not his life. A family and friends have been mourning in silence and with dignity since April 27, 2021, but they are not his. Relatives have been in mourning since April 27, 2021 in the face of an irreparable loss, but it is not his. Smiles died perhaps forever on April 27, 2021, but it is apparently neither his own nor those of his "supporters" who hold forth in front of the cameras and spread to the media in interviews and comments, and make cheerful selfies in front of the paintings hanging on the walls of the "Atelier 109" on a sunny weekend in January 2022 to celebrate the hoped-for return of the prodigal son. A person died on April 27, 2021, a beautiful ray of sunshine crumpled on April 27, 2021, but it was not him. A life was horribly shattered on April 27, 2021, but it was not his. No. It is that of the young Emmanuelle Badibanga, 32, beautiful and radiant, broken forever this disastrous evening of April 27, 2021. What relationship with Otom? Apparently none, since the name of this young woman is not even mentioned by Otom's relatives or in the "Save Otom" event. It shouldn't be important, right? And yet this young woman, Emmanuelle Badibanga let's repeat it since we no longer even consider it necessary to name her and she has become invisible and inaudible, this woman who died, she is, she was Otom's partner. And what is the relationship with Otom then? Oh, almost nothing, Thomas Debatisse alias Otom is just the person formally indicted for the murder of Emmanuelle Badibanga, more specifically suspected of disguising her murder as suicide, and is due to stand trial in the Supreme Court of Seychelles on the Thursday 3rd February 2022. A detail undoubtedly, since the person who needs to be saved is Thomas Debatisse alias Otom, right?
So here we are in Nice in 2022: a person formally charged with murder or more precisely of feminicide, a person officially accused of having disguised a feminicide as a suicide is the subject of praise from the tops of the city of Nice and the small consanguineous artistic community of Nice, who declared him innocent before his trial. The follow-up of the case by the press is a model of rigor, objectivity and critical spirit: timidly mentioned at the beginning, the hypothesis of the murder is very quickly abandoned by the press, the articles prefering the suicide hypothesis, and describing a young woman "with a depressive character", therefore herself ultimately responsible for the whole affair. The circle is complete: the victim is her own executioner, and by a staggering reversal, the possible executioner becomes the victim, since it is now necessary to bring down Emmanuelle Badibanga the depressive but "Save Otom" a model of virtue by setting aside even the possibility that the charges against Thomas Debatisse could lead to his conviction. Depending on whether you are powerful or miserable, a famous artist or anonymous...
It doesn't matter that Emmanuelle Badibanga's family, so dignified and sober in their restraint and silence, managed despite the indecency and peddling about their daughter, with the climax of the “Save Otom” exhibition, to have their truth heard. It does not matter that her relatives testify of her zest for life, her projects, her character that is anything but depressive and suicidal. It does not matter that the police investigation mentions a proven argument within the couple before the tragedy. It does not matter that the family claims that things were neither all pink nor all beautiful in the Seychelles and even in general between Emmanuelle Badibanga and her companion Thomas Debatisse alias Otom. Yes, it doesn't matter. After all, what is a woman's life worth in the face of Saint Otom's broken fate? What is the voice of the voiceless compared to that of the famous and the powerful? What is the "fake-justice" of the Seychelles worth in front of the "true-truth" possessed by those whom the light of Otom has touched with his artistic grace? Shouldn't we save Otom?
Collectif Save Justice Nice, the 26th January 2022
WHO ARE WE AND WHY THIS POSITION ?
We speak out as feminist defenders and activists fighting every day at our small level for women. Our identity is not important and we do not wish to put it forward, this is why our text is not signed, especially when we consider the code of silence and the polarization that reigns in Nice, activists have been bullied and assaulted in our city. All the facts stated in our text are sourced and verifiable (see the press review below). We did not personally know Emmanuelle Badibanga or Thomas Debatisse. We met them during artistic events, but did not have the occasion to better know them. This does not prevent us from feeling extremely saddened by Emmanuelle Badibanga’s death. And we were extremely shocked by the indecency and shamelessness of the “Save Otom” event. We also regret the almost systematic bias of the press articles in favor of the accused. We do not understand the national media’s silence. We have many questions arising. We are not judges and know that an investigation is underway, that the trial will take place in a few days. We hope that justice will be served and that there will be answers, first of all for her family and friends ans that she can finally rest in peace. We therefore do not determine the fact that Thomas Debatisse alias Otom is the author of the murder of Emmanuelle Badibanga that he would have actually made up as a suicide, but we note that these are the terms of his indictment. We therefore respect the presumption of innocence but we do not forget that it can also lead to a guilt judgment at the end of the trial.
REMINDER OF THE FACTS AS DEPICTED IN THE FRENCH PAPER AND INTERNET PRESS SINCE THE DRAMA (see the chronological press review below for the sources)
On April 27, 2021, Emmanuelle Badibanga aged 32, was found dead in her Sainte-Anne Club Med hotel room in the Seychelles. She had come to stay in one of the 119 islands of the Seychelles archipelago with her companion Thomas Debatisse alias Otom, a graffiti artist from Nice, invited by the hotel management to redecorate certain walls of the hotel. On the evening of the tragedy, it was her companion who found her, according to his words hanging from a towel rack in the bathroom, claiming that his partner had committed suicide. He would have tried alone to revive her in vain. A nurse who came to help called the emergency services, they found the young woman dead. Left free immediately after the tragedy, Thomas Debatisse, was nevertheless arrested a few days later by the local authorities, because the autopsy carried out on the victim's body revealed "strangulation marks", which pose serious heavy suspicions on the companion of Emmanuelle Badibanga, and draw the possibility according to these same authorities of a "murder disguised as suicide", a crime punishable by life imprisonment under article 194 of the Seychelles Penal Code. Heard on June 8, 2021 by the Supreme Court of Seychelles, which had to assess whether the charges against him were sufficient to judge and launch new investigations, Otom was not released from his pre-trial detention but formally charged with the murder of his partner. The Seychelles justice deemed it necessary to keep him in detention and to carry out an in-depth investigation, for a trial to take place on February 3, 2022. In parallel with this ordinary judicial procedure in the Seychelles, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office of the case, which in turn seizes the Nice Prosecutor on May 7, who opens an "investigation for intentional homicide by spouse" on Thomas Debatisse and in May 12 seized the Nice judicial police to carry out investigations. The autopsy of the body, repatriated to France more than a month and a half after the death of Emmanuelle Badibanga does not mention all the elements initially noted by the Seychelles authorities on the spot shortly after the death, in particular this autopsy does not report indisputable traces of strangulation and would lean towards the suicide thesis. However, the Nice public prosecutor has concerns about these conclusions: “We do not find a certain number of elements that have been recorded in the Seychelles, told the Nice public prosecutor to the 20 Minutes newspaper. We must remain cautious because the autopsy carried out in France took place a month and a half after the death and the body may have deteriorated, but no trace of blows was found. “More precise still, he affirmed that” the traces on the neck can neither invalidate nor confirm a strangulation “(20 Minutes newspaper on October 22, 2021).