- The newspaper Berria has reported the allegations, collecting the testimonies of some of the students of the time. Together with the testimonies of physical violence, sexual violence and rape between the 1960s and the end of the 1990s, the Procurator of Pau (Occitania), Rodolphe Jarry, remains in the hands of the President.
The Catholic centre Notre-Dame-de-Betharram (Biarno) in Lestelle has a hundred testimonies that lead the open judicial route to physical and verbal violence, sexual violence and rape. The violent accusations date back to the 1960s and the late 1990s, and together, around ten priests, lay guardians or senior students with responsibilities, most of them missing, but not all. Close to Zuberoa, many boys and girls from Euskal North Herria passed through this center, and there are also some who have denounced.
The Berria newspaper has made the subject known on Thursday. The testimony was gathered and the allegations were made by Pau (Occitania) Attorney Rodolphe Jarry. Once the limitation period for some testimonies has been exceeded, the judge will follow up this scandal. The Schiappa Law 2018 extended the limitation period to 30 years for cases of child rape and to 10 years for cases of sexual violence (and 20 years for those aged 15). Therefore, they would not follow the violations produced more than 48 years ago and the sexual violence suffered before 28 years.
Urdin Euskal Herri Irratia also released the case in November last year and continued to warn of the violence of this center. In the 1990s, the theme was brought to light, mainly due to the schooling of children of prominent politicians from this territory. Among them were, for example, the children of Douste Blazy and François Bayrou, also French minister.
Former student Alain Despoutère has worked hard on collecting testimonies. He is at the base of the private account of Facebook Les anciens du collège et lycée de Bétharram, victimes de l’institution (former students of the school and liceo of Betharram, victims of this organization), and since October last year he is gathering testimonies. "Gathering these testimonies is a revenge, nolazpait," says the microphone of Urdin Euskal Herri Irratia.
Michel has set as a pseudonym the witness that Berria brings and tells how he wanted to put living beings into oblivion: "I've smoked inside because we have to keep living." He says he thinks he has not suffered sexual violence, but he does "blows, multiple blows." Save memories of the "perverse" and "sadistic", as well as the "violent" and "visious" blows. It also specifies what it wants with the open judicial route: "Be honest" and "for victims to talk" and "for clarification of what has happened."