Implicated in a case of alleged rape which had been the subject of a complaint in 2017, Gérald Darmanin saw the justice pronounce a dismissal in his favor, it was made public this Monday, July 11, 2022 .
It is a thorny legal file which closes for Gérald Darmanin. This Monday, July 11, 2022, it was made public that justice has decided, according to information from BFM TV, to dismiss the case in favor of the Minister of the Interior, accused of rape since 2017 following a complaint filed by a woman for facts dating from 2009 (read below). The order was signed Friday, July 8. The Paris tribunal de grande instance therefore followed the requisitions of the prosecution who had asked for a dismissal in favor of the “first cop in France”, in mid-January, when the former Minister of Public Accounts had never been put under review in this case. If it is always possible that the complainant appeals, for Gérald Darmanin, it is one less thorn, him whose continued government despite, among other things, this complaint, had caused a lot of reaction.
What is a dismissal?
After several months of investigation, the investigating judge Mylène Huguet of the Tribunal de grande instance of Paris, therefore decided to dismiss the case in favor of Gérald Darmanin. This is a court decision taken pursuant to article 177 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It is rendered when the facts do not constitute a crime, misdemeanor or misdemeanor, or if the perpetrator has remained unknown, or if there are insufficient charges against the person under investigation. Presumably, it was the first option that was chosen by the magistrate since the person who was the alleged perpetrator is known, in the case of the Minister of the Interior, and that the latter was never indicted in the case.
Why was a dismissal pronounced in favor of Gérald Darmanin?
The details of the order issued by the investigating judge Mylène Huguet are not known. However, in a press release whose BFM TV echoes, the lawyers of Gérald Darmanin indicate that “for the fourth time in five years, justice affirms that no wrongdoing can be reproached” to their client. Justice has therefore not collected enough elements in support of the complaint to indict and possibly condemn the current Minister of the Interior.
What does this dismissal change for Gérald Darmanin?
For Gérald Darmanin, this new judgment in his favor is not trivial. Because a Minister of the Interior targeted by such a complaint, this did not fail to cause some turmoil in politics and elsewhere. His appointment as soon as Emmanuel Macron came to power caused a reaction, then his successive renewals led to the outbreak of strong opposition driven by feminist movements. Several petitions asking for his departure from the government circulated, when messages of support and request for respect for the presumption of innocence had been launched in his favor. Now, it should therefore be in a somewhat more serene setting that Gérald Darmanin will continue his mission as Minister of the Interior.
What was the case in which Gérald Darmanin was implicated?
Gérard Darmanin was accused of rape by Sophie Spatz, who mentioned facts that she dated March 17, 2009. This former call-girl had explained to the judicial police that she had been forced into a sexual relationship with the current minister, in a hotel. , after spending the evening with him in a restaurant and then in a private club.
In 2009, Gérald Darmanin was only 26 years old, he was then legal adviser to the UMP. According to the statements of Sophie Spatz, she would have asked the young man to intercede on her behalf to have a conviction against her, dated 2004, canceled or revised. During this meeting, and according to her version of the facts, the former call-girl would have understood that his interlocutor wanted to undertake a sexual relationship.
In her complaint, written by her lawyer in 2017, we could read that Sophie Spatz had wanted to “postpone the fateful moment as much as possible” at the hotel. “Noting that the act was still on the agenda, Ms. Spatz will say […] projected herself into what was to be [sa] future life after she has been cleared”, continued the deposition. For the complainant’s lawyer, the consent of her client had never been established. On August 16, 2018, the investigations had been stopped by a judge of investigation, after the Paris prosecutor’s office dismissed the complaint of Sophie Patterson-Spatz. The investigation had been reopened following a new complaint, before, therefore, the pronunciation of a dismissal .