Senator Joël Guerriau, suspected of having drugged MP Sandrine Josso in order to sexually assault her, announced this Wednesday, September 25, his “withdrawal” from parliamentary work and his resignation from his executive functions. He continued to contest the facts while saying he wanted to “preserve the serenity” of the upper house.
“I am resigning today from the Vice-Chairmanship of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence and am stepping down participation in parliamentary work in the Senate,” the senator said in a statement. He said he “regretted the failure to respect the great principles of the Republic such as the presumption of innocence.”
“I contest the facts with which I am accused and I explain myself with respect for the judicial authority,” he wrote. The entourage of the President of the Senate indicated that Gérard Larcher had asked his interlocutor “to resign from his mandate” as senator, without obtaining a precise response on this subject. Joël Guerriau also agreed to step down from the function of secretary of the Senate, indicated the same source.
Joël Guerriau no longer appeared in the chamber
The indicted senator had requested the presidency of the Senate with a view to a possible return to the Luxembourg Palacealmost a year after the events which date back to November 14, 2023. “We salute the authority of the President of the Senate who in all likelihood worked for the withdrawal of Joël Guerriau”, reacted in a press release the lawyer of Sandrine Josso, Arnaud Godefroy.
Since his indictment, The MP had not appeared in the chamber again and had been suspended from his Horizons party and his parliamentary group. The Independents-Republic and Territories. Many parliamentarians had spoken out to oppose his possible return, while the subject of chemical submission is at the heart of current legal affairs through the trial of the Mazan rapes.
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