The former star presenter of the 8 p.m. newspaper goes to the front. Patrick Poivre d’Arvor filed a complaint on Tuesday for “slanderous denunciation” against sixteen women accusing him of sexual harassment or sexual violence, learned 20 minutes from a judicial source, confirming information from the Complementary Investigation. This complaint, with civil action, was filed with the dean of the Nanterre investigating judges, specifies the office of his lawyer, Me Philippe Naepels.
According to information from the investigative magazine, the former journalist implicates 16 of the 22 women who testified against him to the Brigade for the repression of delinquency against the person (BRDP) without having filed a complaint. “The slightest credit cannot be given to these sixteen women, journalists or writers in search of fame and / or feminists of the last hour, who have come to support a former colleague, a friend, or even a simple activist for the women’s cause”, tackle the document.
Two ongoing investigations against PPDA
The PPDA affair broke out in February 2021 when writer and journalist Florence Porcel, 38, filed a complaint against the 74-year-old, accusing him of having forced sex on her in 2004 and fellatio in 2009. A preliminary investigation was conducted for four months by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, during which 23 women, including a minor, testified and nine of them filed a complaint. The majority of the facts denounced being prescribed, the investigation had finally been closed without further action in June, before rebounding six months later.
In mid-December, Florence Porcel filed a civil action with the dean of the investigating judges, automatically leading to the opening of a new investigation. At the same time, two new complaints, one for rape, the other for sexual assault were also filed against the former presenter, for acts in 1985 and 2013. Investigations are continuing.