Rape investigation against French Interior Minister transferred to a higher court

According to French press reports, the lawyer for the plaintiff Sophie Patterson-Spatz, Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, announced that she will take the decision to a higher court to appeal.

Tuaillon-Hibon stated that they will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) if no results are obtained here.

An investigation was opened against Darmanin on the rape charge in January 2018.

The investigation was opened after a woman named Sophie Patterson-Spatz, who claimed to have been raped by Darmanin in 2009, filed a criminal complaint with the Paris prosecutor’s office.

The Paris Prosecutor’s Office made the decision not to prosecute in February 2018, but the Paris Court of Appeal decided to reopen the investigation on June 9, 2020.

Darmanin admitted to having an affair with the woman who made the complaint, but denied the rape allegation.

In January 2022, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office requested the dismissal of Interior Minister Darmanin in the investigation opened on the charge of rape, and the investigating judge concluded the case without prosecution in July.

The defendant opposed the decision and appealed to the Paris Court of Appeal. (AA)