This Thursday, March 10, the Paris public prosecutor’s office confirmed the indictment of Gérard Depardieu for “rape” and “sexual assault.”
On February 3, Gérard Depardieu filed an appeal requesting the cancellation of his indictment for “rape” and “sexual assault”. This took place at the end of 2020 for facts dating from 2018.
Depardieu’s lawyers declared that there was no “not enough serious or consistent evidence justifying the indictment of their client”.
On Thursday March 10, the Paris Court of Appeal rendered its decision. The actor’s indictment for “rape” and “sexual assault” on actress Charlotte Arnould has been confirmed.
“The investigating chamber thus considers that there are, at this stage, serious or concordant indications which justify that Gérard Depardieu remains indicted”said the Attorney General of Paris, Rémy Heitz, through a press release.
The actress, 22 years old at the time of the facts, had filed a complaint in August 2018 with the gendarmerie of Lambesc (Bouches-du-Rhône). She claimed to have been raped a few days earlier, twice, at the Parisian home of Depardieu, in the 6th arrondissement.
After nine months of preliminary investigation, the Paris prosecutor’s office decided on June 4, 2019 to close the complaint without further action, considering that “the numerous investigations carried out as part of this procedure” had “not allowed to characterize the offenses denounced in all their constituent elements”.
Charlotte Arnould revealed her identity on social networks last December.
In mid-August 2020, the young woman had relaunched the case via a complaint with a civil action. This appeal allows the quasi-automatic appointment of an investigating judge to resume the investigations.
The Attorney General of Paris, Rémy Heitz, pointed out that “the folder now returns” to the magistrate “for further judicial investigation”.
As for the complainant, she did not wish to comment on this decision. His lawyer, Maître Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, declared that his “Client was particularly relieved and confident about the justice that was delivered that day.”
“I can only reject as clearly as possible, as I have already done before the investigators, all the charges. For me, the investigation was closed for lack of evidence. In court, I will reaffirm my innocence. I am innocent and I have nothing to fear”hammered Depardieu to the Italian daily La Repubblica end of February 2021.
Gérard Depardieu is currently starring in Maigret.