French filmmakers Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon have been placed into police custody stemming from charges of sexual assault by actresses including Judith Godrèche earlier this year.
The filmmakers were taken in for questioning on Monday morning (July 1) by France’s Juvenile Protection Brigade at Paris’ Regional Criminal Investigation Department (DRPJ).
In February, Godrèche accused Jacquot and then Doillon of the rape of a minor, which has led to the investigation by the Paris public prosecutor’s office.
Both filmmakers continue to contest the charges. Jacquot’s lawyer Julia Minkowski told local press the filmmaker “will finally be able to express himself before the courts” and Doillon’s counsel Marie Dosé said “none of the legal criteria can justify this measure” of police custody “36 years” after the events described by Godrèche. Both lawyers denounce what they call the “violation of the presumption of innocence” of their clients
Godrèche, now the driving force of a fully charged #metoo movement in France, has publicly condemned Jacquot for their six-year relationship in the 1980s when he was nearly 40 years old and she just 14. Other actresses have followed with similar testimonials including Anna Mouglalis and Islid Le Besco who accused Doillon of sexual assault and rape, and Le Besco and Julia Roy who also filed complaints against Jacquot, the former for rape and the latter for sexual assault.
Under French law, such custody and questioning allows victims to confront their aggressors.
Early on Monday morning, Godrèche posted a photo of herself with Jacquot on set, writing “I don’t know if I’ll have the strength, but I will.”
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