Paris (AFP)

At 94, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing has been the subject of an investigation in Paris for sexual assault since Monday, after the complaint of a German journalist who accuses the former President of the Republic of having touched his buttocks during '' an interview at the end of 2018.

Ann-Kathrin Stracke, a 37-year-old journalist on German public television WDR, wrote on March 10 to the Paris prosecutor's office to denounce the actions allegedly carried out by the current member of the Constitutional Council during an interview in his Paris office. .

Monday, the Paris prosecutor's office announced to AFP to have opened an investigation for acts of "sexual assault" and to have entrusted the investigations to the brigade of repression of the delinquency against the person (BRDP).

Contacted by AFP, the lawyer for the former head of state did not wish to comment immediately.

"I am pleased to learn that the prosecution has registered my criminal complaint and has decided to open an investigation," said Ms. Stracke for her part to AFP. "I am, of course, at the disposal of French justice in the context of this investigation," she added.

"I decided to tell my story because I think people should know that a former French president sexually harassed a journalist, in this case me, after an interview," she told AFP on Thursday , confirming the information of this complaint revealed the day before by Le Monde and the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The facts would have occurred on December 18, 2018 during an interview with Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Helmut Schmidt, former German chancellor whom he encountered during his tenure at the Elysée (1974-1981).

"After the interview, I asked to be able to take a photo with Mr. d'Estaing and my colleagues. This photo was taken by his assistant who was in the room. I was standing to the left of + VGE + and, during the photo, he put his hand on my left waist, which then slid further towards my buttocks and stayed there, "said Ms. Stracke to AFP.

- "Social debate" -

A situation which would have been repeated on two other occasions just after: during a new photo and when the current member of the French Academy showed him old images of him alongside other heads of state or his family.

"I tried to push it away again, but I did not succeed," she said.

To get out of this "very degrading" situation, she claims to have obtained the help of her cameraman who, overturning a lampshade and placing a chair between her and the former president, sought to create a diversion.

Back in Cologne, where the headquarters of WDR is located, she shared her story with her employer, whose management commissioned a law firm to collect her testimony and that of her colleagues.

"The WDR has accompanied and supported Ann-Kathrin Stracke since the incident became known, even when it decided to file a complaint," a spokeswoman for the channel told AFP on Thursday.

In June 2019, a French law firm contacted by the chain sent a letter to the office of Mr. Giscard d'Estaing, who acknowledged receipt four weeks later.

Almost a year later, the journalist then decided to file a complaint and make her story public, saying that she was encouraged by the #MeToo movement to liberate women's speech to fight sexual harassment.

With this complaint, Ms. Stracke wishes the opening of a "social debate on sexual harassment and more courage to speak out and name things".

Knowing that his journalist was going to publicly reveal the story, the WDR again contacted Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's office in April to ask for an explanation.

"On May 4, Mr. d'Estaing's lawyer announced that the former president's office was not aware of the criminal charges and therefore would not respond," the channel told AFP.

© 2020 AFP