This Monday, July 1, 2024, a flagship investigation of the French #MeToo movement took a new turn: filmmakers Benoît Jacquot, 77, and Jacques Doillon, 80, were both taken into custody in Paris at the Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM). While they have been contesting accusations of sexual violence made by Judith Godrèche and several other women for several months, Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon arrived at the Regional Directorate of the Judicial Police (DRPJ) accompanied by their lawyers around 9:30 a.m., an AFP journalist noted.
Police custody “criticizable” and presumption of innocence “flouted” according to the lawyers of Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon
Benoît Jacquot “will finally be able to speak in court”reacted his counsel Me Julia Minkowski, denouncing a “criticized“custody while”a free hearing should have been decided“. “I deplore all of these dysfunctions of justice, thanks to excessive media coverage which leads to unacceptable excesses.” she added.
For Me Marie Dosé, lawyer of Jacques Doillon, “none of the legal criteria could justify this measure“in custody,”36 ans“after the facts denounced by Judith Godrèche. Her client”should have been heard in the context of a free hearing in view of the age of the facts, their statute of limitations acquired for more than two decades, and the inevitable filing without further action which will close this investigation” she added in a statement.His presumption of innocence is violated all day long” in this “procedure largely contaminated by extra-judicial considerations“, in particular of “communication“.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed these police custody in “recalling that the secrecy of the procedure aims to respect the privacy of the people who have confided their story to the courts alone, that of the presumption of innocence, and the serenity of the investigations, necessary for their smooth running.” According to sources close to the case, these police custody which could last until Tuesday evening should be the occasion for confrontations between each of the directors and some of their respective accusers, including Judith Godrèche.
According to our information, Jacques Doillon was released from police custody this afternoon at 3 p.m.without further details.
The words of Judith Godrèche on Instagram
The 52-year-old actress and director reacted to the news of the custody of Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon. It is through his Instagram story that Dany Boon’s ex chose to express himself. “I cry. My eyes are no longer eyes. From all this. From all this I don’t know if I have the strength but I will have it. I will have it, I will have the strength. For her” she wrote on a photo of herself when she was very young.
Contacted by AFP, Me Laure Heinich, Judith Godrèche’s lawyer, did not wish to comment, recalling the secrecy of the investigation.
Judith Godrèche in a relationship with Benoît Jacquot, a relationship of ““grip” and of “perversion”
At the beginning of February, his client sparked a new storm in the French #MeToo by filing a complaint against Benoît Jacquot for rape and Jacques Doillon for sexual assault. The investigation is open for rape of a minor under 15 years old by a person in authority, rape, violence by a partner, and sexual assault on a minor over 15 years old by a person in authority.
Benoît Jacquot and Judith Godrèche began their relationship in the spring of 1986. They lived openly together until their separation in 1992. For the actress, it was a relationship of “influence” and of “perversion”. Two other actresses have filed complaints against the director. Julia Roy, 42 years younger and who starred in four of his films released between 2016 and 2021, filed a complaint for sexual assault in “a context of violence and moral constraint which lasted several years“, according to a source close to the case. The actress Isild le Besco filed a complaint at the end of May for rape of a minor over 15 years old and rapes, dating back to the years 1998-2007. Their respective lawyers, Me Margot Pugliese and Benjamin Chouai, did not wish to comment on Monday.
Regarding Jacques Doillon, Judith Godrèche accuses him of having “groped” her during an unexpected sex scene on a set, when she was 15 years old and was in a relationship with Benoît Jacquot, for a film released in 1989 .
Accusations of Isild Le Besco and Anna Mouglalis against Jacques Doillon
Isild Le Besco also indicated that she had to endure the advances of Jacques Doillon during work sessions, while the actress Anna Mouglalis accused the filmmaker of having kissed her by force at her home in 2011. This new wave of denunciations in French #MeToo set French cinema in turmoil at the start of 2024 and shook the César ceremony and the Cannes Film Festival. A commission of inquiry into sexual violence in cinema, audiovisual, performing arts, fashion and advertising began in May but was stopped abruptly after the dissolution of the National Assembly in early June.
Last Friday, Dominique Boutonnat, one of the most powerful men in the profession, left the head of the National Cinema Center (CNC) after his conviction for sexual assault. Gérard Depardieu is due to be tried in October in Paris for sexual assault on two women, and risks a trial for rape of a third.
Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon remain presumed innocent of the acts with which they are accused until the closure of these cases
