Baupin case: the Paris prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation – The Point

The Paris prosecutor on Tuesday opened a preliminary investigation in the wake of revelations in the press to the Green MP Denis Baupin, accused of sexual assault and sexual harassment by several women. “The investigation will seek to collect the testimonies of the alleged victims who have spoken in the media, to check the dates and places of the alleged event and hear any useful witness” explains prosecutors in a statement. At this point, “no complaint about these facts were received to the prosecutor.”

“allegations” in the press are “on facts that could be qualified as sexual assault, sexual harassment, harassing phone calls, “the parquet in a statement. At this point, “no complaint about these facts were received to the prosecutor,” and “the investigation will seek to collect testimonies of the alleged victims,” ​​said the prosecutor. The investigation was assigned to the brigade fighting crime against the person (BRDP).

His lawyer denounced the “false allegations”

The Green MP Denis Baupin resigned on Monday from his position as Vice President of the national Assembly, caught in the storm of accusations environmentalists elected, revealed in Mediapart and France inter. Facts he contests. After these revelations, the party Europe Ecology-Greens, Denis Baupin left it three weeks ago, praised the “courage” of the victims who spoke and hoped it would be “contagious”.

one of the women who spoke openly, the spokesman of the party, Sandrine Rousseau, launched a “call” to nonprescription testimony. “If there are women, they do not hesitate, we will be there to support us why the facts are prescribed,” she said. The prescription is in principle three years for offenses including sexual assault and sexual harassment.

The lawyer Denis Baupin, Emmanuel Pierrat, responded by citing “false” allegations “slanderous “. He challenged “basically the idea of ​​sexual harassment and even sexual assault, which are totally foreign to him. “As in the case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in 2011, these revelations have given new light to sexism accusations, harassment or sexual assault in the political world.