One month after the start of the case, the principal of the Parisian high school Maurice-Ravel has left his position. He was threatened with death after an altercation with a student who he reminded of the ban on wearing the veil within the school premises.
An altercation, multiple complaints, death threats, an early departure, two arrests… The case that began at the end of February at the Maurice-Ravel high school, located in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, has been full of twists and turns. At the heart of this widely publicized story was an altercation between the principal of the school and a legal-aged student in the first year of BTS. On Wednesday, February 28, around 3 pm, the principal encountered three students wearing veils at the public high school. According to information from the public prosecutor, as reported by Le Parisien, the principal reminded them of their obligation to remove it within the school premises. One of the three young women allegedly ignored the school head, leading to the altercation.
Two versions, two complaints
“The principal came towards us and started shouting at my friend. He saw her taking off her hat and veil, so he came straight towards me,” explained the BTS student in early March, as reported by Le Parisien at the time. The young woman continued: “I turned around, he pushed me and hit me hard on the arm.” This version differs, not surprisingly, from the academy’s account, which stated that the director had “first taken the student by the shoulder” before grabbing her arm. One certainty is that law enforcement had to intervene.
The next day, the BTS student filed a complaint against the principal for “violence that did not result in work incapacity,” while the principal filed a complaint for “intimidation of a person participating in the execution of a public service mission to obtain an exemption from the rules governing this service.” The student’s complaint has since been dismissed, as the offense was deemed insufficiently characterized, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office contacted by BFMTV.
A case taken to the “court of the Internet”
The story could have ended there, but the case took a dark turn in the days following the altercation. Social media quickly picked up the story, and death threats were made against the school administrator. An investigation was opened for cyberbullying. In a statement released by the Ministry of National Education this Wednesday, “two individuals identified as the source of the threats, despite having no connection to the establishment, have been arrested.”
These individuals include a 26-year-old man from Hauts-de-Seine and a man arrested in Trouville, Calvados. While the first will be tried on April 23 in Paris, the second was judged summarily on March 15 in Lisieux. He was acquitted, as the offense was deemed insufficiently characterized according to the public prosecutor, as reported by BFMTV.
Early departure of the principal
As reported last night, the students, parents, and staff members of the Maurice-Ravel high school were informed on Tuesday, March 26, via an internal message, of the principal’s early departure. It stated that the school head had “left his position for security reasons.” While the rectorate confirmed the information, it preferred to speak of “personal arrangements.” Speaking to BFMTV on Wednesday, the rectorate mentioned an “early departure” granted to the school head “a few months before his retirement […] in light of the events […], their publicity, and the impact they may have had on him.” The day after this announcement, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal received the former principal of the Maurice-Ravel high school on Wednesday afternoon. In the 8 pm news on TF1, the Prime Minister announced that the state would file a complaint against the student for false accusation.
On her part, speaking to RTL on the same day, the BTS student revealed that she had left the school at the end of February, just after the altercation, consequently stopping her studies. Today, she works with her mother as an animator in an elementary school. According to her, the altercation simply accelerated her departure from the high school. Prior to this incident, she was already considering quitting her studies. Questioned about the events, she expressed regret for the magnitude the story had taken and apologized to the principal. Despite condemning the death threats, she maintains her version of events. She concludes: “It was better that he left if he did not feel safe. I have moved on.”
