Former President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing on January 30, 2020. – Michel Euler / AP / SIPA
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing subject to a sexual assault complaint. German journalist accuses former 94-year-old French head of state of having repeatedly pressed her buttocks during photo shoot after interview in late 2018, reveal The world and the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Ann-Kathrin Stracke, 37, filed a complaint with the Paris public prosecutor’s office on March 10.
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing’s chief of staff, Olivier Revol, told the two newspapers that the former president had “no memory of his meeting” with the German journalist, adding: “If what is alleged against him was true , he would of course be sorry, but he does not remember anything. “
Charges corroborated by the cameraman
The interview devoted to the 100th anniversary of the birth of former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt took place in Paris on December 18, 2018. According to the journalist’s story, she asked “VGE” to take a photo with him alongside his cameraman and his sound taker. This is where the former head of state allegedly put his hand on his buttocks. The young woman claims to have tried to repel him, in vain. According to her, the scene happened again in a second photo, then when VGE wanted to show him archive footage. She also claims to have received “kisses resting on the cheeks” at the time of the farewells, and that Giscard whispered in her ear: “Träumen Sie süss” (“Sweet dreams”).
Ann-Kathrin Stracke alerted her superiors, who turned to a law firm. According to The world, the cameraman corroborated his testimony. The journalist explains that it took a year to file a complaint because she did not know the French system well, but she said she was convinced of the need to do so in the wake of the movement
#MeToo.
