A criminal court in Paris on Monday postponed the sex assault trial of French actor Gerard Depardieu because of his health concerns, shifting the start of the proceedings to March next year.
Depardieu, who has denied any wrongdoing, is accused of using “violence, coercion, surprise or threat” in the alleged sexual assaults against two women that prosecutors say took place on the set of the film Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters.)
The court also ordered an expert to assess the 75-year-old actor’s health issues.
Photo: AFP
Depardieu’s lawyer Jeremie Assous requested the postponement, saying that the actor has heart trouble and diabetes-related issues.
Assous said doctors had decided that the actor was not well enough to attend the proceedings, although he was eager to appear and defend himself before the court.
“He is anxious to defend himself, because for over three years, a huge number of inaccuracies, false information and lies have been systematically disseminated and relayed,” Assous told reporters. “We’ve only had the word of prosecution. And now, finally, we’re going to be able to have the word of the defense.”
Prosecutors say that in both cases, women reported that the 75-year-old actor trapped them between his legs and groped their buttocks, genitals, chest and breasts over their clothes.
About 100 people gathered outside the court on Monday, some holding signs, responding to a call from several groups to show support for people targeted by sexual violence.
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
Hundreds of thousands of Guyana citizens living at home and abroad would receive a payout of about US$478 each after the country announced it was distributing its “mind-boggling” oil wealth. The grant of 100,000 Guyanese dollars would be available to any citizen of the South American country aged 18 and older with a valid passport or identification card. Guyanese citizens who normally live abroad would be eligible, but must be in Guyana to collect the payment. The payout was originally planned as a 200,000 Guyanese dollar grant for each household in the country, but was reframed after concerns that some citizens, including
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done