(Paris) French justice confirmed Thursday the indictment of actor Gérard Depardieu for “rape” and “sexual assault”, following the complaint of actress Charlotte Arnould.
Posted at 7:55 a.m.
Updated at 8:01 a.m.
“The investigating chamber thus considers that there are, at this stage, serious or concordant indications which justify that Gérard Depardieu remains indicted”, for these facts dating from August 2018, declared the Attorney General of Paris , Rémy Heitz, in a press release.
The monument of French cinema, 73 years old, had asked in a request of May 2021 that the nullity of his indictment concerning these facts be pronounced.
The investigating chamber had studied during a hearing on February 3 this request, which was opposed by the general prosecutor’s office of the Paris Court of Appeal.
“The file now returns” to the investigating judge “for further judicial information”, added Rémy Heitz.
Present at the Court of Appeal at the time of deliberation, Charlotte Arnould, obviously moved and accompanied by a relative, told AFP that she did not wish to comment.
“My client is particularly relieved and confident about the justice that has been rendered today,” reacted to AFP his lawyer, Ms.and Carine Durrieu-Diebolt.
“It is important to note that currently all the magistrates in charge of the file”, whether it is the investigating judge or the court of appeal, “believe that there are serious or concordant indications which suggest that Gérard Depardieu did indeed commit the acts of sexual assault and rape of which he is accused, ”added the lawyer.
Solicited by AFP, the comedian’s lawyer, Mand Hervé Temime, did not wish to react.
The case started in the summer of 2018.
Charlotte Arnould, 22 years old at the time of the events, had presented herself to the gendarmerie in the south-east of France at the end of August 2018, claiming to have been raped a few days earlier twice at the Parisian home of the star, a private hotel.
After numerous disputes, a Parisian investigating judge indicted Gérard Depardieu on December 16, 2020 for “rape” and “sexual assault”, leaving him free without judicial review.
“I am innocent and I have nothing to fear,” Gérard Depardieu told the Italian daily. La Repubblica end of February 2021, shortly after AFP revealed this decision.