The Paris prosecutor’s office has requested that actor Gérard Depardieu be tried for the alleged rape of French actress Charlotte Arnould in 2018, according to AFP.
According to the young artist’s accusation, the “Asterix & Obelix” actor sexually abused her on August 7 and 13, 2018, at the actor’s house.
Following the formalisation of the request for a trial against Depardieu, the victim’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, said that the request from the Paris prosecutor’s office is the “result of a long investigation which has enabled us to gather the elements that corroborate what my client has said.”
The request from the prosecution, which was formalized on August 14 but revealed only on August 22, will now depend on the investigating judge, who will determine whether the actor must appear at the trial.
Gérard Depardieu is approaching his first trial
The first complaint against Gérard Depardieu was filed by Charlotte Arnould herself at a police station in 2018. However, despite the investigation into the case, the case was closed a year later due to lack of evidence.
This did not prevent the victim from filing a new complaint in 2020 against the actor, which resulted in the request for trial being made.
In response to the second complaint, the same French actor declared in 2023 that he was innocent, and also mentioned that he had “never abused a woman.”
Prior to the revelation of a possible trial against the interpreter of “The Man In The Iron Mask”, it was announced that the actor will be tried next October for alleged sexual assaults committed against two women during the filming of a movie in 2021.
In recent months, Gérard Depardieu has been accused by several actresses and film industry workers of various accusations such as sexual assault, inappropriate behavior, rape, among others.
So far, and thanks to various interviews given this year, the actor has declared himself innocent of all charges. This has also sparked an intense debate within the film industry in France.
Following the initial accusations, a group of actors published a mass letter in which they showed their support for Gérard Depardieu, mentioning his historical and artistic importance in French cinema. This letter provoked another, larger group of artists to condemn the manifesto.
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