Mr. Hulot arrived at the BPM shortly before 2 p.m. in a taxi with tinted windows, AFP journalists noted.

The Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation for rape and sexual assault on November 26, 2021 after the broadcast on France 2 of a report by "Envoyé Spécial".

In this document, six women accused Nicolas Hulot of sexual violence which allegedly took place between 1989 and 2001.

Three of them testified to facts ranging from surprise kisses to an attempt at forced fellatio which would have been imposed on one of them, a minor at the time.

A fourth, environmental activist Claire Nouvian, said she had been warned by Nicolas Hulot's "political" entourage before filming in 2008, so that she would avoid being alone with him.

Two other women, former host Maureen Dor and a former TF1 employee, had forwarded written testimonies to "Special Envoy" concerning sexual assault.

In this case, at least one complaint was filed by the woman who was a minor at the time of the facts she denounces.

She was heard by the police "soon after the opening of the preliminary investigation", according to a source familiar with the matter.

Anticipating the broadcast of this documentary, the former Minister of Ecology had refuted the accusations the day before, November 24, 2021, on BFMTV.

"Neither near nor far did I commit these acts, these assertions are false," he said.

"I have never forced anyone," he added, announcing to leave "definitely public life".

Appointed Minister of Ecological Transition during Emmanuel Macron's first five-year term, he resigned at the end of August 2018 denouncing the lack of progress on the environment.

The weekly Ebdo had revealed a few months earlier that the ex-host had been the subject in 2008 of a complaint for a rape committed in 1997, dismissed due to prescription.

The complainant turned out to be Pascale Mitterrand, granddaughter of François Mitterrand.

Nicolas Hulot had also rejected these accusations.

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© 2022 AFP