High-profile lawyer Juan Branco has been suspended for nine months for violating the confidentiality of the rape investigation into him, according to a ruling by the Paris Court of Appeal, which AFP learned of on Friday from sources close to the case.

On October 8, 2024, the disciplinary council of the Paris bar had sentenced him to this sanction in the first instance, and Mr. Branco had appealed this decision, but it was confirmed by a judgment of October 16, confirmed a judicial source.

The decision has been effective since Tuesday, according to sources close to the case.

Mr. Branco, charged with rape in a judicial investigation opened in Paris in 2021, facts which he disputes, is convicted of having published in June 2023, on his X account (ex-Twitter) and on his website, extracts from a legal procedure, in particular minutes of hearings of several women who implicate him, whom he denigrated and whom he accuses of lying.

He was also convicted of publicly discrediting magistrates and investigators who worked on his case.

At first instance, his peers had described a case of "exceptional gravity" because of the "deliberate nature of the attacks" by Juan Branco who "showed a flagrant disregard for the most basic ethical principles."

The disciplinary council also accused Mr. Branco of "a clear lack of understanding of the fundamental requirements of his profession."

This 36-year-old Franco-Spanish man is known for his anti-Macron pamphlet "Twilight" published in 2018.

He notably defended for a time the Russian artist Piotr Pavlenski, convicted of having distributed sexual videos of Benjamin Griveaux in 2020, forcing the latter to abandon the race for mayor of Paris.

Or "Zoé Sagan," the pseudonym of advertising executive Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, accused of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron. The hearing is scheduled for Monday, October 27 and Tuesday, October 28.

On Wednesday, October 15, in another case of alleged breaches of the principles of his profession that he contests, Mr. Juan Branco was tried in first instance by his peers.

He indicated on X that "a three-year suspension" had been requested against him.

Asked by AFP, Juan Branco said in a long message that he had been "particularly targeted by the authorities for several years" and denounced "a unique instrumentalization of the ordinal justice system" concerning this latest procedure.

His lawyer did not respond to AFP.