By Damon Mitchell • Published: 07 May 2020 • 19:37
EX-FRENCH President Valery Giscard d’Estaing faces alleged sexual assault charges as a German journalist has accused him of repeatedly grabbing her inappropriately during an interview.
Giscard’s French lawyer said today that the 94-year-old former president “retains no memory” of the incident. Giscard was president of France from 1974-1981.
German broadcaster WDR reported Wednesday night that it investigated the alleged misconduct after the journalist interviewed Giscard for WDR in December 2018.
The journalist said Giscard grabbed her buttocks three times and she tried to push his hand away. The journalist filed a legal complaint this March with Paris prosecutors, the reports said. The prosecutor’s office would not comment on Thursday.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Giscard’s lawyer Jean-Marc Fedida suggested possible legal retaliation “against a particularly undignified and offensive media (attack)” around the accusation.
According to reports, the journalist didn’t file a complaint right away because she didn’t understand enough about the French justice system, but later changed her mind in part thanks to inspiration from the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct.
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