French minister accused of raping Mitterrand’s granddaughter
THE granddaughter of former French president Francois Mitterrand is at the centre of a rape scandal engulfing Emmanuel Macron’s government.
Pascale Mitterrand, now 41, was allegedly attacked by ecology minister Nicolas Hulot in 1997.
Her rape claim was investigated by detectives for three months in 2008, but dropped because it was beyond France’s statute of limitations.
Mr Macron is standing by his colleague and friend, saying there is no question of him being sacked.
Miss Mitterrand was a 20-year-old apprentice photographer when she spent a week photographing Mr Hulot at his holiday home on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
In statements filed with police in 2008, Miss Mitterrand said: ‘We could have met in many other places, but he insisted that it happened
‘I’m afraid of the rumours’
at home.’ Mr Hulot, 62, insists the relationship was consensual.
A lawyer for Miss Mitterrand last night confirmed she was the woman who accused Mr Hulot of raping her. But barrister Michel Dufranc added: ‘ She and her family in no way welcome this publicity.’
Prosecutors in the Brittany city of St Malo also confirmed that Miss Mitterrand had filed a rape allegation against Mr Hulot.
Gilbert Mitterrand, Pascale’s father and the son of the late president, told Paris magazine Ebdo – which broke the story: ‘My daughter became different after that.’
He added that his daughter, now a married mother of two, had left France and moved abroad.
Mr Hulot was interrogated by detectives at length, but the inquiry was eventually dropped.
Two members of Mr Macron’s government have now been accused of sex attacks. Budget minister Gerald Darmanin, 35, is said to have attacked a married former prostitute, but has also kept his job. Both men vehemently deny any wrongdoing, with Mr Hulot saying: ‘I’m afraid of the rumours, I’m not afraid of the truth. I hate sexism and macho behaviour.’
Mr Hulot is also said to have sexually harassed a second unnamed woman he met through his Hulot Foundation – an organisation that campaigns on environment issues.
Money is said to have been paid out by the foundation as part of a settlement with Mr Hulot’s former lover, but this has been denied by the politician and his organisation.
Mr Hulot, a former television presenter, is one of the leading lights of Mr Macron’s government, which came to power last year pledging it would be sleaze-free.
Mr Darmanin is the subject of a preliminary enquiry into ‘abuse of weakness, abuse of power’ and rape.
He is said to have attacked Sophie Spatz, now 46, a decade ago while he was working as a legal adviser.
Miss Mitterrand’s grandfather Francois infamously kept a secret family on the French state, using police and secret agents to protect it, and it was not until after his death that his mistress and love child were finally identified.