Former deputy mayor of Paris Christophe Girard, forced to resign for his links with controversial writer Gabriel Matzneff, is accused of sexual abuse by the New York Times , "serious" and "baseless" allegations which he contests "with the greatest firmness".
His accuser, Aniss Hmaïd, 46, told the American daily to have been trained by Christophe Girard as soon as they met in Tunisia, when he was 15, in an abusive relationship of almost ten years which left him "lasting psychological wounds. ".
Prosecutions for "slanderous denunciation" envisaged
"Christophe Girard contests these denunciations and these facts with the greatest firmness", indicated in a press release his lawyer Delphine Meillet, affirming that she will initiate proceedings for "slanderous denunciation" against this article.
"The facts denounced being prescribed, the word of the accuser, against the word of the accused, is left to the appreciation of the court of opinion, where too often a presumption of guilt in matters of sexual offenses has taken. the step on the presumption of innocence ”, added the lawyer.
"He took advantage of my youth" denounces his accuser
According to Aniss Hmaïd, Christophe Girard sexually abused him when he was 16 and forced him to have sex about twenty times over the following years, adds the daily.
In exchange, the article continues, Aniss Hmaïd assures us that Christophe Girard sometimes employed him as a servant in his summer residence in the south of France and "obtained temporary jobs for him in the Yves Saint Laurent house" of which he was one of the main leaders before entering politics.
"He took advantage of my youth, my young age and all that for his sexual pleasures," Aniss Hmaïd told the American daily, who considered denouncing Christophe Girard to the authorities but was dissuaded from doing so by his mother who judged him " too powerful ".
Christophe Girard interviewed in March in connection with the Matzneff affair
Christophe Girard, heard in March in the context of the Matzneff affair, accused of pedophilia, resigned on July 23 from his duties as deputy for Culture, after attacks by elected environmentalists who were allies of the mayor PS Anne Hidalgo.
Investigators interviewed Christophe Girard, secretary general of Maison Yves-Saint Laurent between 1986 and 1987, in March, a structure which provided financial support to Matzneff in the 1980s, according to several accounts.
The writer is targeted by an investigation for "rape of minors" opened by the Paris prosecutor's office after the publication in January of Vanessa Springora's autobiographical novel: she describes the relationship under the influence that she had when she was a minor with the writer.
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- Sexual assault
- Paris city hall
- Society
- Gabriel Matzneff