LITHUANIA: A French rock singer went on trial in Lithuania yesterday for killing his film star girlfriend, Ms Marie Trintignant, in a case that has gripped France and the little Baltic nation since the glamorous actress died last August, writes Daniel McLaughlin in Moscow
Mr Bertrand Cantat (40), lead singer of the group Noir Desir is accused of battering Ms Trintignant during a row in their hotel room in Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, after she received a romantic text message from her husband.
Prosecutors say Mr Cantat struck his girlfriend at least 19 times, and that an ambulance was only called several hours after the attack, which left Ms Trintignant - daughter of veteran French screen star Jean-Louis Trintignant - with severe facial injuries and swelling on the brain. She died almost a week later in a Paris hospital, without ever regaining consciousness.
Mr Cantat seemed calm and composed in court yesterday - in contrast to his dishevelled manner when arrested - but did not enter a clear plea in response to the charge of manslaughter.
"We loved each other and our love was growing," he told a panel of three judges in testimony witnessed by Ms Trintignant's black-clad mother as well as his own parents and fellow members of Noir Desir.
The singer admitted to slapping his girlfriend four times in a drunken stupor, but insisted he never meant to kill her. His lawyers want Ms Trintignant's death to be ruled a "crime of passion", which could greatly reduce a potential 15-year jail sentence.
"Everything happened very fast," he said in court. "Never, never did I want things to happen that way. This hand should never have risen. And I do not accept myself having raised this hand." Just as the passionate, 18-month affair between Mr Cantat and Ms Trintignant - who starred in more than 30 films, most notably Janis et Jon - captivated France, so her death appalled the nation and prompted renewed debate on domestic violence.
Ms Trintignant's mother, Nadine, has demanded the harshest possible punishment for Mr Cantat. Her book about Marie became a bestseller in France, and she accuses Mr Cantat of being violently jealous of her daughter's friendships with the three fathers of her children.
Mr Cantat admits to quarrelling with his girlfriend over an affectionate text message she received from Mr Samuel Benchetrit, director of Janis et John.