Verdict due in Depardieu sexual assault case
The actor is facing a possible 18-month suspended prison sentence for the alleged sexual assault of two women on a 2021 movie set -- charges he denied during the closely watched trial.
Depardieu, who has acted in more than 200 films and television series, is the highest-profile figure caught up in France's response to the #MeToo movement.
Around 20 women have accused the actor of assault or inappropriate behaviour, but this is the first case to come to court.
The trial relates to charges of sexual assault during the filming in 2021 of "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters") by director Jean Becker.
The plaintiffs are a set dresser, 54, identified only as Amelie, and a 34-year-old assistant director, who accuse the actor of sexual assault. Of the two, only Amelie is expected to be present for the verdict.
Depardieu, who is currently filming a movie in Portugal, will also attend, his lawyer Jeremie Assous told broadcaster Franceinfo.
The Paris Criminal Court will deliver its verdict from 10:00 am (0800 GMT).
'Lack of remorse'
In March, lead prosecutor Laurent Guy recommended an 18-month suspended jail term for Depardieu, arguing that the sentence "takes into account the total lack of remorse" shown by the defendant.
He said Depardieu should also be ordered to undergo psychological treatment and be added to France's sex offender registry.
Amelie testified that Depardieu pinned her down in 2021 on set, saying, "he was very strong" and "groped" her.
She also said Depardieu made "obscene remarks" and suggestions, boasting he could "give women an orgasm without touching them".
The 34-year-old plaintiff said Depardieu initially assaulted her when she accompanied him from his dressing room to the set.
"It was nighttime... he put his hand on my buttocks," she said, adding that the actor assaulted her on two other occasions.
Depardieu, 76, has denied sexually assaulting the women.
"I'm vulgar, rude, foul-mouthed, I'll accept that," he told the court, but he added: "I don't touch."
"I adore women and femininity," he also said, while describing the #MeToo movement as a "reign of terror".
Throughout the trial, Depardieu has been supported by his daughter Roxane, his ex-partner Karine Silla and actor Vincent Perez.
And on Monday, he won public backing from French film star Brigitte Bardot.
"Those who have talent and put their hands on a girl's bottom are thrown in the gutter," Bardot said.
"We could at least let them get on with their lives. They can't live anymore."
'Sexism and misogyny'
Lawyers for the two plaintiffs denounced the approach of Depardieu's defence team.
The actor's lawyer Jeremie Assous called the two women "liars" and "hysterical", arguing they were working for the cause of "rabid feminism".
Claude Vincent, the assistant director's lawyer, said: "What we witnessed was not a defence strategy" but "an apology for sexism".
In an open letter, nearly 200 French lawyers urged the judiciary to fight what they called courtroom sexism.
Depardieu's lawyer had "used sexism and misogyny to his heart's delight" to discredit the plaintiffs and their legal team, they said.
Depardieu has also been indicted in another case following a rape complaint filed by actor Charlotte Arnould, 29. Prosecutors have requested a trial.
In April, French MPs criticised "endemic" abuse in the entertainment industry after a six-month inquiry.
Depardieu became a star in France from the 1980s, winning the Best Actor award in 1990 for his performance in "Cyrano de Bergerac".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
US-backed Gaza aid group accuse Hamas of attack on staff bus, at least five killed
The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Wednesday accused militant group Hamas of attacking a bus carrying its staffers to an aid distribution center, saying at least five people were killed and multiple others injured. The group said in a statement that around 10 pm local time (1900 GMT) "a bus carrying more than two dozen members of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation team... were brutally attacked by Hamas." "We are still gathering facts, but what we know is devastating: there are at least five fatalities, multiple injuries, and fear that some of our team members may have been taken hostage," the statement read. 07:15 In an email to AFP the group said all the passengers on the bus were Palestinian and all were aid workers. They were en route to GHF's distribution center in the area west of Khan Younis. "We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms," the group said in its statement. "These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons and friends, who were risking their lives every day to help others." An officially private effort with opaque funding and backed by Israel, GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking warnings of mass famine. But GHF's first week of operations, in which it said it had distributed more than seven million meals' worth of food, has been marred by criticism. The Israeli military faces allegations of shooting into crowds of civilians rushing to pick up aid packages near GHF sites. Israeli authorities and the GHF -- which uses contracted US security -- denied any such incident took place. The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
LeMonde
4 hours ago
- LeMonde
The Dulcie September case exposes France's troubling ties with South Africa during apartheid
Five bullets to the head, fired point-blank. A .22 caliber pistol fitted with a silencer. And a pool of blood staining the landing on the fourth floor of a Parisian building. On the morning of March 29, 1988, a woman collapsed at 28 Rue des Petites-Ecuries. Dulcie September, 52, was the African National Congress (ANC) representative in the city, the face of the anti-apartheid movement there. She had just put her key in the lock of her office door when the killers struck. It was a professional job. Thirty-seven years on, her murder remains a mystery. On Tuesday, June 10, the court of appeal rejected the activist family's complaint against the French state for "denial of justice" and "gross negligence." "Impunity seems to have prevailed," said September's family lawyer, Yves Laurin, who criticized what he called a "botched investigation" after her death. In 2019, the family had already tried to have the case reopened by filing a complaint for "apartheid crime," which is not subject to a statute of limitations. That attempt failed as well.
France 24
12 hours ago
- France 24
French antiques expert who duped Versailles sentenced to jail
The ruling from the court in Pontoise, north of Paris, caps one of the biggest forgery scandals to rock the rarified world of France's top museums. Bill Pallot, 61, along with five other people as well as a prominent gallery, stood trial in the spring. Pallot and woodcarver Bruno Desnoues were convicted of having produced and authenticated chairs they sold, which they passed off as historic pieces that once adorned the rooms of the likes of Madame du Barry, the mistress of Louis XV, or of Queen Marie-Antoinette. Customers duped by the pieces included the Palace of Versailles and wealthy collectors including a member of the Qatari royal family. Pallot was sentenced to a four-year term including four months behind bars, fined 200,000 euros ($230,000) and handed a five-year ban on working as an expert. He will not go to jail having spent time in detention after his arrest. Known for his distinctive long hair and three-piece suits, Pallot has been described by magazine Vanity Fair as "the world's leading expert on the works of 18th-century France." Paris Match branded him "the Bernard Madoff of art", referring to the late American financier who devised a notorious pyramid scheme. - 'A little harsh' - Pallot said the sentence was "a little harsh financially," although he was satisfied that his apartment would not be seized, contrary to the prosecutor's demand. "We thought we'd do it for fun, to see if the art market would notice or not," Pallot has told the court. "It went without a hitch," he added. Desnoues, a prominent woodcarver, was sentenced to a three-year term including four months behind bars, and fined 100,000 euros. In court, he presented himself as a humble artisan uninterested in money and motivated only by his love of art and "the pleasure of working, of making beautiful things". A lawyer for the Palace of Versailles implied the men got away too easily, denouncing "the particularly diabolical manoeuvres" of the two main defendants and pointing to "clean, white-collar trafficking." "When you are caught red-handed, you are not sentenced to very long prison terms," said Corinne Hershkovitch. "We feel that we are not protected for the future," she added. 'Pallot's blessing' The pair pocketed nearly 1.2 million euros in commissions. Galleries and auction houses made even more, selling fake furniture pieces to the Palace of Versailles and billionaire collectors. After the French Revolution, the Palace of Versailles was completely emptied, with thousands of royal furniture pieces and other items dispersed at revolutionary sales. Nearly half of Pallot and Desnoues' fakes were acquired through various channels by the Palace of Versailles, which has since the 1950s sought to refurnish the former home of French royalty. "Indeed, Versailles's decision to purchase the chairs hinged on Pallot's blessing," Vanity Fair said in 2018. "And based on Pallot's imprimatur, the government classified two of his fake lots as national treasures." Accused of failing to carry out sufficient checks, the prestigious Kraemer antique gallery was acquitted. The public prosecutor had sought a fine of 700,000 euros. Intermediaries between the forgers and the final buyers believed they had been misled by Pallot's reputation, and charges for most of them were dismissed during the eight-year-long investigation. Unnoticed for years, the scam caused an estimated 4.5 million euros in damage. The fraud was discovered by accident during an investigation into the lavish lifestyle of a Portuguese couple who were laundering Desnoues' money. When the scandal erupted in 2016, the ministry of culture swiftly ordered an audit of Versailles's acquisitions policy.
