PARS.- The TAX Paris asked today – July 3 – for the indictment of film-maker Benot Jacquot por rape actresses Julia Roy and Isild Le Besco, according to official sources who spoke to AFP.
Benot Jacquot was arrested for questioning by police on 1 July, as was Jacques Doillon, another well-known French director.
The latter was released on Tuesday for medical reasons and has not been charged for the time being.
Indictment against filmmaker
The prosecution requested that Jacquot be charged with rape, sexual assault and violence, allegedly committed between 2013 and 2018 against Julia Roy, and with rape of a minor by a person in authority, rape by a partner, allegedly committed between 1998, 2000 and 2007 against Isild Le Besco.
He has also asked that the French director and screenwriter be placed under judicial supervision.
“In both cases, the complainants – who reported facts that are not included in the charges – will be contacted personally,” the prosecutor said.
The preliminary investigation was launched after another actress, Judith Godrèche, filed a complaint against the two filmmakers, who have denied the accusations.
Godrche, 52, publicly accused Benot Jacquot of rape in early February and then Jacques Doillon of sexual assault, triggering a new wave in the #MeToo movement in French cinema.
Godrèche’s accusations, which called for courage from any woman who had suffered the same type of abuse in the entertainment world, led to public statements and formal complaints from numerous female showbiz workers in France.
At the same time, the French justice system is examining other well-known cases, such as that of actor Gerald Depardieu, who at 75 years of age has been the subject of several investigations for years.
Depardieu is due to stand trial in October for sexually assaulting two women during a filming in 2021.
The Godrche case
Isild Le Besco, now 41, had announced his complaint against Jacquot at the end of May.
The actress began her career in French cinema in the late 1980s. She made five films under Jacquot’s direction: Sade (2000), Adolphe (2002), See you soon (2004), The Untouchable (2006) y Deep in the woods (2010) as a TV movie, Princess Mary (2004).
Julia Roy directed four films under Jacquot’s orders: Never (2016), Eva (2018), Casanova, her last love (2019) y Suzanna Andler three years ago.
The Godrche case, which sparked this new wave of accusations, dates back nearly 40 years, when the actress was just starting out in French cinema, so these specific charges could have expired, according to legal sources.
Benot Jacquot was Godrche’s partner for years, starting in the spring of 1986.
They lived openly together until their separation in 1992.
Godrche’s parents agreed to grant the actress legal emancipation, at her express request, when she was not yet 18 years old.
The actress now claims that her relationship with Jacquot was one of control and perversion, and that she was raped as a result.
As for Doillon, the actress accused him of sticking his fingers in her panties during rehearsals for a film released in 1989. At the time she was 15 years old and was in a relationship with Benot Jacquot.
FUENTE: AFP
