JUSTICE – A long-awaited trial… finally postponed. Gérard Depardieu was to be tried this Monday, October 28 for sexual assault on two women on the set of the film Green Shutters in 2021. But the Paris court decided to postpone the trial to March 24 and 25, 2025 at the request of the actor’s lawyers. “It’s a very good decision”greeted his lawyer.
Until then, a medical assessment of the actor will be carried out. In the morning of franceinfo, a few hours before the opening of the trial scheduled for 1:30 p.m., the lawyer of Gérard Depardieu had announced that his client would not be present at the trial for health reasons. “Gérard Depardieu is extremely affected and, unfortunately, his doctors prohibit him from appearing at the hearing”declared Me Jérémie Assous, specifying that the actor would request a dismissal to be able to attend his own trial.
The 10e chamber of the criminal court ruled by sending the case back to allow the actor to defend himself. Gérard Depardieu must be tried for alleged acts of sexual assault dating back to September 2021 during the filming of Jean Becker’s film Green Shutters. He faces up to five years of imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros, without aggravating circumstances.
“No preferential treatment”
The two complainants had respectively filed a complaint in February and March 2024, on condition of anonymity. A few days before the trial, the first agreed to testify openly in Mediapart. Amélie, 53, was the set designer on the film. She accuses the actor of having “ grabbed with brutality”, “kneaded the waist, the stomach, going up to her breasts” and made serious comments, as revealed at the time Mediapart.
The second complainant is a 33-year-old woman, a former staged assistant. Gérard Depardieu would have touched him “ the buttocks, the penis and the chest, over his clothes” by pinning her with her legs. She decided to sue the actor after being contacted by the judicial police, who were investigating following Amélie’s complaint.
Amélie’s lawyer, Me Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, told AFP to wait “ that justice is the same for everyone and that Mr. Depardieu does not benefit from preferential treatment because he is an artist.” “My client is waiting for justice to establish that Gérard Depardieu is a serial sexual assaulter”she added. For the two alleged victims, the postponement of the trial further prolongs the wait.
The actor is already indicted in another case, after the actress’ complaint Charlotte Arnould in 2018. The Paris prosecutor’s office requested a trial for rape last August, for which the investigating judge must rule.
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