An elected official from the Grand Est indicted for sexual assault

A regional councilor from the Grand Est, Christian Debève, was indicted for sexual assault and placed under assisted witness status for two others, the Colmar prosecutor told AFP this Wednesday, October 2, confirming information from the newspaper local Rue89 Strasbourg . “He was heard as part of a first appearance interrogation. He was indicted for a sexual assault involving a “stolen kiss”, and placed under assisted witness status for the two other acts of sexual assault.specified the prosecutor, Jean Richert. Judicial information, opened in June 2023, “will continue”he added.

The judicial investigation had been opened for an attempted rape and two sexual assaults but the attempted rape was reclassified as a sexual assault, Valérie Gletty, lawyer for one of the three complainants, told AFP. Among the three women are two regional elected officials from the Grand Est and one elected official from another region. “The placement under assisted witness status does not mean that he is innocent but it implies that there will be additional investigations, and an indictment is possible in the long term”underlined Me Gletty. She added that her client had “requested a confrontation” with the Grand Est regional advisor: “We are waiting for it to be organized”. Contacted by AFP, Christian Debève’s lawyer planned to communicate during the day on Wednesday.