Gérald Darmanin's lawyers, at the heart of a controversy over an accusation of rape since his appointment to Place Beauvau, denounce " false information and defamatory remarks " against their client, in a press release sent on Tuesday July 21, to AFP.
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The new Minister of the Interior has been the subject since 2017 of a complaint from a woman, Sophie Patterson-Spatz, who had requested him in 2009 to try to have a conviction overturned. According to the complainant, Mr. Darmanin would have dangled his support for her and she would have felt compelled to “ take the plunge ”. He says it was on the contrary a voluntary relationship.
“ Gérald Darmanin has never, in any case, exchanged an intervention - which he did not have the power to bring about - in return for a sexual favor. He has always firmly contested this accusation or any abuse of power, especially during his hearing on February 8, 2018, ”insisted Me Pierre-Olivier Sur and Me Mathias Chichportich in their press release. They add to reserve the right to " continue from now on any defamatory remarks " targeting Mr. Darmanin.
Closed, the investigation reopened since last November
Contacted by AFP, the plaintiff's lawyers, Me Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon and Me Marjolaine Vignola, were not available to react immediately. The complaint of Sophie Patterson-Spatz was first dismissed by the prosecution in early 2018. The investigations " did not establish the lack of consent of the complainant and did not further characterize the existence a constraint, a threat, a surprise or any violence against him , ”explained the prosecution.
Ms. Patterson-Spatz then filed a complaint with the constitution of civil party, in order to obtain the designation of an investigating magistrate. On August 16, 2018, a judge had issued " an order of dismissal to inform ", considering that in view of the investigations, the alleged facts were not established and that there was no need to further investigate .
The complainant had contested this decision, but the Paris Court of Appeal had ruled her appeal out of time before being forced by the Court of Cassation, in November 2019, to reconsider the question. In mid-June, this same court of appeal ordered the resumption of investigations against the one who was still Minister of Action and Public Accounts.
