Former MP Jean Lassalle heard by the judicial police in the investigation for rape and sexual assault targeting him

The former candidate for the presidential election “came out free without prosecution at this stage”, the Bordeaux prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.

Former Béarnais MP Jean Lassalle, targeted by an investigation for rape and sexual assault, was given a free hearing on Tuesday in the premises of the Bordeaux judicial police, the prosecution announced on Wednesday, November 22.

The 68-year-old former shepherd “came free without prosecution at this stage”specified the Bordeaux public prosecutor’s office, confirming information from the newspaper South West.

Double presidential candidate

This preliminary investigation, opened this summer, concerns facts dating back to 2010. Two witnesses must still be interviewed before transmitting the file for study, said the prosecution. Contacted by AFP, Jean Lassalle was not immediately available.

The Pyrenean elected official sat for two decades in the National Assembly, under the label of the UDF, then the MoDem and finally his Resistons! movement. Mayor for 40 years of the village of Lourdios-Ichère (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), champion of rurality, the double candidate for the presidential election did not stand for re-election in the last legislative elections. He had justified his decision by “medical imperatives”.

In the summer of 2023, Jean Lassalle was one of the candidates for the second season of the investigation game Les Traitors, broadcast on M6. He recently said in a newspaper interview The Parisian being courted in view of the 2024 European elections and having “the desire to become an MEP”.