During the great interview with the President of the Republic on December 15, 2021, recorded two days before and during which he did not formalize a candidacy for his re-election, Audrey Crespo-Mara questioned Emmanuel Macron on the affair that shook France in November: the Nicolas Hulot case. On November 25, the show Correspondent is devoted to the former star of TF1 and former Minister of the Ecological Transition because he is accused by several women of rape, sexual assault and harassment. The facts are prescribed but the testimonies, edifying, have the effect of a bomb, to the point that the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office decides to open an investigation. The President of the Republic has not officially reacted to this scandal and the fact that the man who had been so popular decided to retire from public life. However, his words at a cabinet meeting were reported. The Head of State reconsiders his remarks and specifies his position vis-à-vis the one with whom he has collaborated for a year.
After detailing everything the government has done to protect women victims of violence, Emmanuel Macron explains how he reacted to first charges against Nicolas Hulot in 2018 revealed by the ephemeral magazine Ebdo, when he was still his minister: “In 2018, I did as I always do when there are accusations against a minister. With the then Prime Minister [Edouard Philippe], we received Nicolas Hulot, he denied with great force. (…) The complaint [de 2008, déposée par la petite-fille de François Mitterrand, Pascale] had been classified. There were no court cases. We immediately looked to see if there were any subjects we needed to know. Justice has not informed us of any ongoing proceedings. (…) And so he remained minister. What was the other choice we could have made? Ministers have the same duties as all citizens, but they also have the same rights. The presumption of innocence is a right. If there had been an ongoing legal process, with an investigated complaint that had established the facts, if he had been convicted, if we had had to know facts that he would have admitted, then for sure we would have taken a decision. “
Emmanuel Macron is clear, he does not regret having appointed Nicolas Hulot in 2017: “You can’t regret when you don’t know everything. I did not anticipate that he was going to quit one morning from a radio station. It’s life. [l’ex-ministre a été remplacé par François de Rugy en 2018]. I am, on this intractable subject, I am committed. But from where I am, I want justice to be done in a peaceful way. Care must be taken, especially when talking about public figures, that the presumption of innocence is preserved. If as soon as there is a rumor or an accusation which may be legitimate, which may be true, if on the basis of an accusation you say, ‘it’s over’, then there is no more life in society possible. Justice must be able to do its job. These accusations must be taken very seriously, they must be educated, justice must be able to do its job of revealing the truth and the right decisions must be made.“A subject that personally touches the journalist Darius Rochebin facing Emmanuel Macron, since he was the subject of accusations of harassment and sexual assault in 2020 and then exonerated.
Words which correspond to what he said in the Council of Ministers, but this time, the Head of State chose his words carefully, avoiding the term of inquisition which had provoked the ire of the accusing women. In a column published in Le Monde, they wrote: “Shouldn’t our stories advance the law rather than push it back to the horrors of the Inquisition? ? “
Nicolas Hulot remains presumed innocent of the facts with which he is accused.