Paris (AFP)
The director of the Théâtre des Quartiers of Ivry (Val-de-Marne) Jean-Pierre Baro, splashed for a year by a case of alleged rape, announced Thursday to AFP that he was leaving his post, the day after a strike by the staff of the establishment calling for his resignation.
"I am clear with my conscience, I give up the direction of the Theater of the Quarters of Ivry only to preserve this magnificent institution, but I will not let my honor be spoiled nor trample on my presumption of innocence", affirmed the director who was the subject of a complaint in 2018 before it was closed.
The complaint was filed by a young woman who worked in a production office, for allegedly taking place in September 2011, years before he took charge of the theater.
The complaint was dismissed in March 2019 due to lack of evidence. But in a blog hosted by the site Mediapart, the theater critic Jean-Pierre Thibaudat released the case in June detailing the allegations of the young woman, who says he was raped in his apartment.
Claiming to make his voice heard "in the face of accusations and insults", Mr. Baro once again claimed his innocence.
"An investigation was carried out, I was interrogated for a long time in police custody, a confrontation between her and me was organized, and during this confrontation and in front of the police, it appeared that I had never forced this relationship" , says the director, also director, in the statement sent to AFP.
"I did not have any kind of violence or pressure that evening, which I experienced as totally agreed upon, nothing, neither that night nor after that, allowed me to imagine for a moment that it could be otherwise, it was not until seven years later that I learned that she considered that she did not want this relationship ".
"I have a great respect for the liberation of the women's words and for their struggle, which is an essential cause, but it is here misguided and transformed into a public lynching made of rumors and denunciations." added Mr. Baro.
A hundred people had gathered Wednesday night at TQI, Ivry-sur-Seine to call for the resignation of Jean-Pierre Baro, referring to the catastrophic fallout of the case on the theater.
"The public deserts our rooms, many artists refuse to set foot in the theater or to deal with its direction.The territorial partners disengage," said the staff in a statement.
© 2019 AFP