All members of Émile's family, detained for 48 hours, were released without prosecution. After the lifting of the police custody
of the grandmother, grandfather, then an aunt of the little boy, it was that of an uncle that was lifted, BFMTV learned from the Public Prosecutor of Aix-en-Provence.
All came out free and without prosecution. They had all been arrested Tuesday in the early hours of the day and their home had been searched. At the end of these police custody, the prosecutor must hold a press conference at noon this Thursday.
A few hours earlier, at dawn, Me Isabelle Colombani, the lawyer of little Émile's grandfather, heard since Tuesday, explained: "The investigators did their job. We could see that there was a lot of work done. And they had a lot of questions to ask us since yesterday. All the questions were answered," she added.
"There may have been areas of shadow to lift"
She assured that she had "never been too worried" since police custody began early Tuesday. "I thought we could explain each other on all points. There may have been shadow areas to be lifted, but here it is," she insisted.
"My client's police custody will be lifted, it is naturally an immense relief," Julien Pinelli told journalists when leaving the gendarmerie premises in Marseille shortly after 3 o'clock.
"After 17 hours of hearing today, police custody is lifted," said Isabelle Colombani as she left the gendarmerie in Marseille shortly before 5 a.m. "It's a relief for them, for the lawyer too," she added.
Anne Vedovini "wanted to participate in what could naturally be akin to an ordeal, but she wanted to do so to the extent that she believed that it was also her contribution to this investigation whose answers she is now waiting for," he added.
The lawyer refused to make any statement "on the merits of the investigations that were conducted (or) on the questions asked to my client (and) on the answers she could have given".
"We were able to during these 48 hours, without naturally lifting the secret, observe the considerable work that was carried out by the investigating authorities and in particular the research section of the Marseille gendarmerie, which spared no effort to find answers to this tragedy, today naturally my client retains all her trust in them," added the lawyer.
The grandmother "is waiting for the answers" on the death of the child, her lawyer Me Julien Pinelli announced on the night of Wednesday to Thursday in March.