Gérard Depardieu will be tried in October for alleged sexual assaults

Actor Gérard Depardieu, accused of having sexually assaulted two women in 2021will be tried in October, reported the Paris Prosecutor’s Office. The French film giant was released after a police interrogation on April 29.

Gérard Depardieu, 75, was detained this Monday at the judicial police offices in Paris, where he was summoned by investigators for questioning, in a new stage of the judicial saga against this film legend. The actor was released hours later and the Paris Prosecutor’s Office announced during the afternoon that he will be tried in October.

“Gérard Depardieu received a summons to appear in court (…) for sexual assaults probably committed in September 2021 to the detriment of two victims during the filming of the film The volets verts“said the Prosecutor’s Office.

The first woman, who reported him in February, is a decorator who worked on the filming of Les Volets verts of Jean Becker and who accuses him of sexually assaulting her in 2021.

“It’s a relief,” said Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, a lawyer representing the decorator. “There are undoubtedly other victims. At the moment, between 20 and 25 women have reported incidents ranging from contempt to gender violence, including harassment and sexual assault. “It is time for him to be judged,” added the lawyer, who also defends a woman who denounced the actor for events dating back to 2014.

According to Mediapart, another woman, who was an assistant director on the same filming, accuses the actor of sexual violence and also filed a complaint. The actor’s trial will deal with these two accusations, although he has other ongoing litigation.

Monday’s interrogation was the first time Depardieu was in police custody for alleged sexual assaults, although in the past he was arrested for a motorcycle accident while intoxicated.

Depardieu denies the repeated accusations against him, that have become a cultural war front in France, dividing the world of cinema and pitting feminist groups against the actor’s defenders, including President Emmanuel Macron.