Jailed French singer wins early release
Oct
15
Written by:
Monday, October 15, 2007
A judicial hearing in Toulouse has granted conditional early release to Bertrand Cantat, singer with French rockers Noir Désir.
Cantat (43) has served three and a half years of an 8-year sentence for killing his girlfriend, actress Marie Trintignant, during a violent argument in a hotel room in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2003.
The court agreed with lawyers for the singer that Cantat had been a model detainee and had 'made efforts at social readaptation'.
However, the judgement stipulated that Cantat is not allowed to make any public comment on the case or his offence.
This essentially precludes the singer from performing or recording any songs that refer to the death of Trintignant or to his culpability in the matter.
Noir Désir's record company, Universal France, have previously stated that the band's contract remains in force and that new material is awaited.
Cantat will leave the prison in Muret, near Toulouse, tomorrow (16 October). A media frenzy awaits him, as does renewed controversy and public debate about a perceived lack of adequate protection for women who are victims of domestic violence. France has also been rocked by recent cases involving repeat offences by convicts on early or temporary release, though the court in Toulouse today was satisfied that Cantat would not re-offend.