(28 Oct 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris, France – 28 October 2024
1. One of the plaintiffs leaving courthouse
2. SOUNDBITE ( French) name not disclosed, one of the plaintiffs:
"It was extremely difficult to listen to all that violence."
Reporter asking: "Why was it violent?"
One of the plaintiffs: "What the defense said. I was expecting it, but not that much. I’m having trouble digesting it now. I think I’ll be more loquacious next time. I hope so."
3. Close of one of the plaintiffs surrounded by reporters
4. SOUNDBITE (French) name not disclosed, one of the plaintiffs:
"He was in great form at the confrontation. Yes, they seemed to be coping very, very well with 6 hours in police custody. Personally, I think he’s quite capable of doing it, but it’s not for me to judge. There will be doctors doing expert assessments, but I hope he’ll have the courage to be there. Because we’re here and we’ve been saying the same thing from the start. We’re ready to confront Mr. Depardieu, so that he finally tells the truth."
5. One of the plaintiffs leaving court
6. Reporters gathered
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Jérémie Assous, Gérard Depardieu’s lawyer:
"This is Gérard Depardieu’s first victory. It won’t be his last. We asked the court to send it back. It was. We asked for it to be postponed for two days, as there is a very large number of people who need to be heard, since I would remind you that this is an investigation that is totally truncated, not to say rigged, since all the defense witnesses have been deliberately excluded. We will now have time to call all the witnesses who have been deliberately excluded by the public prosecutor’s office. And so, once they appear. The truth will come out, namely that Gérard Depardieu is the victim of totally false accusations."
8. Assous leaving the court
STORYLINE:
A criminal court in Paris decided Monday to postponed the sex assault trial of French actor Gérard Depardieu because of his health concerns, shifting the start of the proceedings to March of next year.
Depardieu, who has denied any wrongdoing, is accused of using "violence, coercion, surprise or threat" in the alleged sexual assaults against two women that prosecutors say took place on the set of the film "Les Volets verts" ("The Green Shutters.")
The court also ordered an expert to assess the 75-year-old actor’s health issues.
Depardieu’s lawyer Jérémie Assous requested the postponement, saying that the actor has heart trouble and diabetes-related issues.
Assous said that doctors decided the actor was not well enough to attend the proceedings even though he was eager to appear in court.
Lawyers for both women also argued in favor of the postponement, saying that their clients want to hear Depardieu’s explanations.
Prosecutors say that in both cases, women reported that the actor trapped them between his legs and groped their buttocks, genitals, chest and breasts over their clothes.
France continues to reckon with sexual violence in the wake of the #MeToo movement that initially struggled to find traction, especially in the cinema industry.
About 100 people gathered outside the court on Monday, some holding signs, responding to a call from several feminist groups to show support for victims of sexual violence.
Some activists made their way into the courtroom and sat among other members of the general public attending the hearings.
AP video shot by Yesica Brumec and Marine Lesprit
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