Christophe Girard -

AFP

A return that has not gone unnoticed.

Christophe Girard, who had withdrawn from the Council of Paris in August after accusations of "rape", participated Monday in a meeting of elected officials of "Paris in common", said the mayor of Paris, confirming information from the

World

"He is still a member of Paris in common" but he "no longer occupies any functions within the executive since his resignation" in July from his post of deputy mayor for Culture, this source told AFP .

Christophe Girard, whose rape investigation which targeted him was closed in November because of the "prescription", did not respond to AFP's requests.

Aged 64, the municipal councilor of the 18th arrondissement told

Le Monde

on Tuesday

that he had been elected to “serve Paris” and that it was his “duty” to participate in the Council of Paris on February 2.

When questioned, the Paris city hall did not wish to comment on this point.

"It is his right and his strictest responsibility", reacted on BFM TV, Ian Brossat, deputy mayor in charge of housing and member of the PCF group.

"Lasting psychological wounds"

A powerful figure in the cultural policy of the city of Paris, the former right-hand man of Anne Hidalgo was forced to resign in July 2020 from his post of deputy mayor because of his links with the writer accused of pedophilia Gabriel Matzneff.

A month later, he announced that he would withdraw from the Council of Paris "for the sake of serenity" after the opening by the Paris prosecutor's office of an investigation for "rape by a person in authority" following a testimony published in the

New York Times

In the columns of the American daily, Aniss Hmaïd had testified to his meeting with Christophe Girard in Tunisia in the summer of 1989, when he was 15 years old, explaining that he was then drawn into an abusive relationship of nearly ten years having left him " lasting psychological injuries ”.

Political tensions in sight?

The investigation was finally closed in November by the Paris prosecutor because of "the acquisition of the prescription of public action".

Coming out of his silence in December, Christophe Girard had denounced an “instrumentalised” affair, “serious” and “unfounded” allegations.

His return to the Paris Council at the beginning of February could rekindle tensions within the pink-green majority whose relations were severely tested by the episodes of July and August.

Paris

Paris: Resignation of Girard, “explosion” of Coffin ... A turning point for Hidalgo's pink-green alliance?

Politics

Paris: Christophe Girard, Pierre Aidenbaum… Two resignations and the end of silence at the town hall?

  • Anne Hidalgo

  • Paris city hall

  • Resignation

  • Gabriel Matzneff

  • Paris

  • Rape