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Prosecutors ask for Depardieu rape case to be reopened

  (Agence France-Presse)
Paris, France
Sun, August 2, 2020

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Prosecutors ask for Depardieu rape case to be reopened In this file photo taken on June 25, 2018, French actor Gerard Depardieu waves as he arrives at the Town Hall in Brussels for a ceremony as part of the 'Brussels International Film Festival' (Briff). (BELGA/AFP/Thierry Roge)

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aris prosecutors said Saturday they had asked for an investigation into rape allegations against French actor Gerard Depardieu to be reopened after an earlier probe was dropped last year.

An actress in her 20s accuses Depardieu of assaulting and raping her in his Paris home in August 2018.

After she reported her allegations against the celebrated actor -- who is 71 and who denies any wrongdoing -- prosecutors in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence opened a preliminary investigation which they then passed on to their Paris colleagues.

The Paris probe was dropped after nine months in early 2019 after investigators failed to assemble enough proof to proceed to formal charges.

Read also: French film star Depardieu questioned in rape probe

But now the actress has relaunched proceedings by acting as an "injured party" which under French law almost always leads to a case being examined by an investigating magistrate.

Depardieu's lawer, Herve Temime, declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Depardieu, who is a superstar in France thanks to films like Cyrano de Bergerac, Jean de Florette and Camille Claudel, has also had a successful international career, working among others with Peter Weir in Green Card and with Ridley Scott in 1492.

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