Emmanual Macron today gave his full backing to a senior minister accused of raping the ‘granddaughter of a famous politician’ aged just 17.
The President of France said there would be no possibility of Nicolas Hulot, the 62-year-old Ecology secretary, resigning unless he was charged by prosecutors.
It means that there are now two members of the government who are facing the possibility of trial and prison for rape.
The President of France said there would be no possibility of Nicolas Hulot, the 62-year-old Ecology secretary, resigning unless he was charged by prosecutors.
Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin, 35, is accused of attacking a married former call girl, but has kept his job.
An aide to Mr Macron and his prime minister, Edouard Philippe, said: ‘There is a point of law clearly established by the prime minister, in agreement with the President, which is that if there is no indictment, there is no need for a resignation to be mentioned.’
Neither man has denied sexual relations with their alleged victims, but insist that everything was legal.
A tearful Mr Hulot today told BFM TV in a live interview: ‘I’m afraid of the rumours, I’m not afraid of the truth,’ adding: ‘I hate sexism and macho behaviour.’
Mr Hulot insists that the teenager who made the complaint ‘was not a minor’ when he was said to have slept with her in 1997.
‘I’m afraid of the rumours, I’m not afraid of the truth,’ adding: ‘I hate sexism and macho behaviour,’ said Mr Hulot today in a live interview on BFM TV
She went to police in 2008, but Mr Hulot said: ‘The investigators considered that there was nothing there to prosecute.
‘It’s true there was a complaint, but it’s gone…Already in 2008, it was a trauma for me and my wife. Now it’s back. These are not valid cases. We’re fed up with it.’
Mr Hulot, a married father of two, added: ‘Yesterday my wife and children were in tears. Rumour is a slow poison that kills.’
Mr Hulot is also said to have sexually harassed a second woman he met through his Hulot Foundation – an organisation that campaigns on environment issues – and she is now also a politician. Neither of the women have yet been named.
Despite his green credentials, Mr Hulot has always been a flamboyant figure who owns a collection of nine classic cars.
The former TV presenter is one of the stars of Mr Macron’s government, which came to power last year pledging it would be sleaze-free.
Mr Darmanin is the subject of a preliminary enquiry into ‘abuse of weakness, abuse of power’ and rape.
He is said to have attacked Sophie Spatz, now 46, a decade ago while he was working as a legal advisor.
French politics is notorious for its sex scandals, with presidents and their most senior lieutenants regularly having affairs, leading to frequent allegations of establishment cover-ups.
The political career of former Socialist finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn was brought to a halt by a succession of rape allegations, but none were ever proved.