Seventy-five euros in compensation per day of wrongful imprisonment: that’s what, on average, our judicial system awards to the unfortunate souls it has unjustly crushed. Unless, of course, your name is Bernard Tapie or you were acquitted in the Outreau case. His story has never been told. Yet, it gives pause for thought. On July 3, 2002, based solely on the testimony of a woman who believes she recognized him, Richard Laurent was accused of rape, arrested at his home, and brutally thrown in prison. “I didn’t understand what was happening to me; it was a nightmare,” confides the 57-year-old railway worker, married and father of three. A few months later, still incarcerated, he saw a prisoner accused of pedophilia arrive in his cell, who also proclaimed his innocence. “Like mine, his investigating judge had condemned him in advance, without giving him a chance to explain himself,” he recalls.

Philippe Eliakim

Bernard Tapie:
0 days in prison,
€45 million in compensation.
Defrauded by Crédit Lyonnais during the resale of Adidas, the businessman received incredible preferential treatment: a private arbitration tribunal settled his dispute with the French state. In addition to €45 million for “moral damages,” it awarded him €240 million to compensate for his “lost profits.”

Patrick Dils:
15 years in prison,
€1 million in compensation
. Ten million euros. This, according to his lawyer, is the true value of the harm suffered by his client. Accused of murdering two children, raped and beaten for 15 years in prison, Dils will receive only one-tenth of that amount after his acquittal. If his case hadn’t received such intense media attention, he would have been awarded far less.

Richard Laurent:
1 year in prison,
€50,000 in compensation.
Bad luck for this railway worker: his case never even made the news. Wrongfully accused of rape and held in pretrial detention for a year, he received only €50,000 in compensation after his acquittal in 2007. Barely enough to cover his lost wages and legal fees…

Rida Daalouche:
5 years in prison,
0 euros in compensation.
This drug trafficker has not fared well with the justice system. Convicted of a murder he did not commit, then acquitted in 1999, he received not a single cent in compensation for
his 5 years in prison. The reason: during his investigation, he had the audacity to lie to the judge and the police in order to defend himself.