Frenchman Jean-Claude Arnault, husband of a committee member who awards the Nobel Prize for literature, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for two rapes on Monday in Sweden. This scandal is behind the cancellation of the award this year.
The conviction in Sweden of French Jean-Claude Arnault was weighed down on Monday on appeal, the court having found him guilty of two rapes and not of one.
At first instance in early October, he was sentenced to two years in prison for one rape and acquitted for the other. The court of appeal finally found him guilty of the second rape and increased his sentence by an additional six months in prison. Jean-Claude Arnault, 72, denies the two rapes.
Cancellation of the Nobel Prize
This case led to the cancellation of the Nobel Prize for Literature this year. His challenge by the Swedish courts led many of the 18 members of the Swedish Academy to resign. It has fallen to ten members, two are missing to meet the quorum required by the statutes so that the Academy can replace them and appoint a new Nobel of literature.
Photographer and artistic director by profession, Jean-Claude Arnault is the husband of Katarina Frostenson, who sat on the Academy until his resignation in April. Eighteen women had accused him last year of harassment and sexual assault. He is also suspected of causing leaks on the award, which he also denies.