Jean-Vincent Placé tried for sexual assault in Paris
The former Green Party under-secretary appears in court on Thursday facing allegations of sexual assault committed in South-East Asia, which he denies.
Former political figure prosecuted for sexual assault
Jean-Vincent Placé, 58, appeared on Thursday 29 October before the Paris criminal court, according to BFM TV. He is accused of sexual assault against two women, allegations which he denies.
A first complaint was filed in November 2021 by a colleague who suspects he touched her breasts at a party in Seoul in May 2016. This complainant, referred to as Audrey in judicial documents, also reports several other instances of sexual assault and sexual harassment during their collaboration at the Senate, then at the secretariat of state for reform and simplification. The prosecution applied the aggravating circumstance of abuse of authority linked to his position.
The second complainant, Marie, did not attend the hearing. She accuses him, in a complaint filed in October 2023, of having sexually assaulted her in a vehicle in South Korea in March 2017 — allegedly touching her breasts and thighs and attempting to put his hand between her legs. This woman had no professional connection with Placé.
According to the committal order consulted by the AFP, several statements describe behaviour that was "very heavy-handed and insistent" towards women, particularly when he had consumed alcohol.
Me Tewfik Bouzenoune, lawyer for the two complainants, welcomed the outcome of his clients' "long struggle", noting that they "have not wavered one iota in their statements" since the beginning of the investigation.
The defence, represented by Me Jade Dousselin, announces that Placé "reserves all his explanations for his judges" while contesting the accusations.
Placé had already been sentenced on 1 March 2021 to a fine for sexual harassment of a gendarme in 2016 — facts which he had admitted. In 2018, he also received a sentence of three years' imprisonment with suspension for violence, disrespect towards a person in public authority and racial insult. These two offences dated from 2016 and occurred while he was intoxicated. His political career came to an end in 2021; he subsequently reoriented himself towards the private sector, notably in Morocco.
Source: BFM TV