Police drop sex probe into Jolie’s peacenik pal
PEACE campaigner Jeremy Gilley’s colleagues were said to have reacted with disbelief when it was reported last year that he had been arrested on suspicion of raping a young child.
They will be relieved to hear that Gilley, who is backed by a host of famous figures including Angelina Jolie and Jude Law, has now been informed by the police that they are not proceeding with the case.
Gilley, who was 47 at the time of his arrest, was questioned by detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Sexual Offences Exploitation and Child Abuse Command.
The actor turned film-maker, who runs the Peace One Day foundation, was said to have been ‘shocked and distressed about the situation’ but co-operating fully with police.
A Scotland Yard spokesman tells me: ‘Police investigating an allegation of rape of a child have informed a 47-year-old man previously arrested in connection with the case that it will not be proceeded with, following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service.’
Jolie has been a staunch supporter of Peace One Day and appeared in Gilley’s 2008 documentary, The Day After Peace, about the foundation.
Law also appears in the film and travelled with Gilley to Afghanistan for a screening of the documentary and to promote the foundation’s work. Lauded by many high-profile figures across the globe, including former UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan, Gilley launched Peace One Day in 1999 with the aim of establishing the International Day of Peace.
Owing to Gilley’s efforts, two years later the UN adopted the first-ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence on September 21 — Peace Day.
Over the years, Peace One Day has attracted huge celebrity support, including David Beckham and Sir Richard Branson.