“The political world must assume its responsibilities and remove the perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence from its ranks.” In a column published by The world Monday, November 15, 285 women working in politics or academia call for the launch of a “political #MeToo”.
The text is signed by renowned female politicians such as Sandrine Rousseau (EELV), Laurence Rossignol (PS) or Danièle Obono (LFI). It notes in particular that “three candidates or potentially candidates for the Elysee are already cited in numerous testimonies of sexual assault”. Without commenting on their guilt, the signatories believe that the maintenance of their candidacies despite these accusations illustrates “how indifferent the condition of women and victims is to them”.
The text does not name the candidates targeted, but among the candidates declared or anticipated for the presidential election, three personalities have already been the subject of accusations of rape or sexual assault: François Asselineau, Jean Lassalle and Eric Zemmour. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about these three cases.
François Asselineau, indicted for sexual assault
A preliminary investigation was opened in May 2020 after complaints from two former employees of his party and a report to the prosecutor by one of the executives of his political formation. Since February 5, the founder and president of the UPR has been indicted for sexual assault by a person in authority, sexual and moral harassment, and intimidation of a victim. He is placed under judicial control.
Let’s rewind. In April 2020, Le Figaro reveals the existence of a letter signed by a large majority of the national office and regional delegates of the UPR calling on François Asselineau to resign. The signatories explain that they are aware of information from a “extreme gravity” regarding relationships “particular and more than insistent” by François Asselineau with two of his collaborators. A few days earlier, private messages from the party chairman had leaked onto the internet.
The two former collaborators and complainants have since testified in Release. Both say they were the recipients of love statements and threats from the candidate for the 2017 presidential election. Other members of the UPR said they attended a call between François Asselineau and one of the two plaintiffs, Mathieu, who confirmed this story. An activist reports to Release Mathieu’s confidences. The latter told him to have been kissed without his consent, in his sleep, by François Asselineau. The other complainant, William, asserts, still at Release, that the boss of the UPR tried to kiss him by force.
François Asselineau a “categorically denied” the harassment accusations unveiled by Le Figaro. In the process, he called an extraordinary congress of his party to renew the national office and was reelected with 77.7% of the vote, according to the UPR. Philippe Conte, the candidate of the opponents who called for his departure, left the UPR to create another party, Generation Frexit, and says that 80% of executives followed him.
After his indictment, François Asselineau’s lawyer, Pierre Darkanian, considered that the investigation had been “carried out exclusively at the charge” and called the facts “so-called stolen kisses”. His entourage says he is the target of a “attempted takeover” of the UPR. François Asselineau maintained his presidential candidacy, announced in 2019, and affirmed in October that he “did not think” that his indictment would harm him at the ballot box.
Jean Lassalle, accused of sexual assault
On Twitter, in October 2017, the day after the emergence of the hashtag #balancetonporc, the communications director of the French Communist Party, Julia Castanier, accuses Jean Lassalle of having “put a hand on the buttocks”. She clarified the context to Mediapart a few days later: the facts happened “around 2010”, in front of the post office located inside the National Assembly, while she was parliamentary attaché. The politician already occupied the seat of deputy of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. “Jean Lassalle, by the way, puts his hand on my buttocks and leaves. I didn’t say anything, I was completely taken aback., says Julia Castanier. We never spoke to each other afterwards. “
After the publication of his tweet, Jean Lassalle reacts in several media. “I don’t know this lady. I don’t remember that episode”, he says to South West. “Putting a hand on the buttocks has never been in my habits”, he assures Mediapart. The case has no legal consequences.
At the same time, a journalist accused the former presidential candidate of attempted sexual assault: Mié Kohiyama claims that he “try to [l’]to kiss” without warning after an interview in Japan in 2007. She had detailed her story in a column published by The JDD. Jean Lassalle replied, in The Republic of the Pyrenees, remember their meeting but not the act with which he is accused.
Eric Zemmour, accused of sexual assault
The far-right polemicist Eric Zemmour is concerned by the term “potentially candidate” used in the tribune of women politicians. Several accusations emerged in the spring, as the prospect of his candidacy began to emerge.
Gaëlle Lenfant, elected opposition to the municipal council of Aix-en-Provence and former head of the PS, tells, on April 24, on Facebook that she was forcibly embraced by Eric Zemmour during the summer universities of the PS. She places the episode in 2004, while her ex-husband, interviewed by Mediapart, evokes 2005, the year when Eric Zemmour covered summer universities for Le Figaro. Several relatives, including this former companion, confirm that she told them the episode long before the journalist became a possible presidential candidate. “At the time, I never thought of filing a complaint”, she told Mediapart. The facts are now prescribed.
A few days later, the writer Aurore van Opstal affirms that Eric Zemmour has “stroked the knee with his hand” going up “up to the crotch”, during a coffee in 2019. After recounting the episode on Twitter, she told Mediapart that the gesture initially seemed to her “anecdotal”, which she explains by her personal story: she was the victim of pedophile violence.
Four other women testify anonymously in the Mediapart article. An iTélé makeup artist claims to have been pressed against a wall by the columnist. A hostess of the chain assures us that he put his hand on her buttocks. A journalist accuses him of having kissed her twice without her consent after a coffee. The latter also testifies in a recent documentary of the program “Complément d’études” on France 2.
Eric Zemmour has not been the subject of any complaint from the women concerned. After Gaëlle Lenfant’s testimony, his entourage told Franceinfo that he had “no memory of this scene” and denounced “a political affair”. The possible candidate for the next presidential election refused to answer Mediapart. Questioned by “Further investigation”, his lawyer Olivier Pardo presented these accusations as “forced attacks (…) in a moment of political campaign”.