The filmmakers Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon, accused by actresses, including Judith Godrèche, of sexual violence, were placed in police custody by the Minors Protection Brigade this Monday, July 1, we learn from sources close to the matter.
The two men, who contest these accusations, arrived around 9:30 a.m. at the Regional Directorate of the Judicial Police in Paris, accompanied by their lawyers. Benoît Jacquot “will finally be able to speak before the courts”reacted his counsel, Julia Minkowski, who denounced a “criticizable” jail. “A free hearing should have been decided”she added.
Confrontations
For Me Marie Dosé, lawyer of Jacques Doillon who refutes all these accusations en bloc, “none of the legal criteria could justify this measure” in police custody “thirty six years” after the facts denounced by Judith Godrèche. His client “should have been heard in the context of a free hearing in view of the age of the facts, their prescription acquired for more than two decades, and the inevitable dismissal of any further action which will close this investigation”she added in a statement.
The two lawyers denounced the “attacks on the presumption of innocence” of their customers and the media coverage of these measures. According to sources close to the case, these police custody could allow confrontations between the directors and some of their accusers, including Judith Godrèche.
In early February, the 52-year-old actress sparked a new storm in the French #MeToo by successively accusing Benoît Jacquot of rape and then Jacques Doillon of sexual assault, and by filing a complaint in the process. The investigation by the Paris prosecutor’s office concerns the offenses of rape of a minor under 15 by a person in authority, rape, violence by a cohabitant and sexual assault of a minor over 15 by a person in authority.
Benoît Jacquot and the actress, then aged 14, began their relationship in the spring of 1986. They lived together, even buying an apartment in Paris, until their separation in 1992. The actress spoke of a relationship of“grip” and of «perversion»even though the filmmaker was 25 years his senior.
Two other actresses have filed complaints against Benoît Jacquot: Julia Roy for sexual assault and Isild Le Besco, at the end of May, for rape of a minor over 15 years old and rape, which were allegedly committed between 1998 and 2007.
