The senator claims to have believed that he had gotten a “high” for his own consumption, the deputy denounces a “betrayal” and accuses the first of having drugged her: On Friday there was a confrontation in France between two parliamentarians what the senator was accused of.
• Also read: France: A senator is suspected of drugging a representative for sexual assault
This almost two-hour confrontation at the Paris Criminal Investigation Department was organized under the custody of Senator Joël Guerriau (of the Horizons group, an ally of the presidential majority).
He was subsequently “charged” (accused) of “administering to a person, without his knowledge, a substance which could impair his judgment or control over his actions, in order to commit rape or sexual assault, as well as imprisonment and the use of substances classified as narcotics.” commit.”
He was released but placed under judicial supervision, his lawyer said.
Sandrine Josso, MP for Loire-Atlantique from the centrist Modem party, is “still in a state of shock”, her lawyer, Me Julia Minkowski, told AFP.
AFP
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the complainant felt ill after drinking something on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday in the Paris home of the 66-year-old senator, with whom she had no close relationship.
According to her lawyer, she “felt unwell after drinking a glass of champagne” and saw Joël Guerriau “take a small plastic bag containing something white from a drawer in her kitchen.” “Then she understood that he was drugging her without her knowledge,” Me Minkowski said.
Samples from Ms Josso’s body revealed the presence of ecstasy, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Thursday.
The senator’s office and his home were then searched, where investigators found ecstasy, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The deputy “had to exert enormous physical and intellectual strength to overcome her terror and free herself from this ambush at the last minute. Added to this is a feeling of betrayal and complete incomprehension. “Joël Guerriau had been a friend for around ten years in whom she had complete trust,” Me Minkowski continued.
Joël Guerriau is a banker by profession and has been elected to the upper house of parliament since 2011. He is Secretary of the Senate and Vice President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Services.
According to sources familiar with the case, he said he believed he was given a euphoric drug by a member of the Senate, rather than ecstasy, for his own use to cope with what he called personal trials.
The investigation is being carried out under the auspices of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has opened a blatant investigation, which is why there is no need to submit a request to waive parliamentary immunity.