The senator from Loire-Atlantique is suspected of having drugged MP Sandrine Josso during an evening on Tuesday. He was indicted and placed under judicial supervision on Friday, with “obligation to follow treatment and prohibition of contact with the victim”, specifies the Paris prosecutor’s office.
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Senator Joël Guerriau, suspected of having drugged MP Sandrine Josso, was indicted and placed under judicial supervision on Friday November 17 for “administering to a person, without their knowledge, a substance likely to impair their discernment or control of one’s actions, in order to commit rape or sexual assault” and “possession and use of substances classified as narcotics”, indicated the Paris prosecutor’s office and Me Rémi Pierre Drai, the senator’s lawyer to franceinfo.
Joël Guerriau was taken into custody on Wednesday and interviewed by investigators from the 3rd judicial police district. MP Sandrine Josso told investigators that she had been invited by Joël Guerriau to her Parisian home on Tuesday evening. After having a drink, she felt unwell and decided to leave the apartment. The MP then filed a complaint. Her medical tests revealed that she tested positive for ecstasy. During the search of Joël Guerriau’s home, a sachet of ecstasy was found. A confrontation subsequently took place on Friday between the elected representative of Loire-Atlantique and the MP.
An obligation to receive treatment and a ban on contact with the victim
Senator Joël Guerriau was placed under judicial supervision, with “obligation to follow treatment and prohibition of contact with the victim”, specifies the Paris prosecutor’s office to franceinfo. Judicial review is “very light since there is only one ban, that of meeting the complainant”estimates the senator’s lawyer. “Joël Guerriau is now free and will be able to explain the facts”assures Rémi Pierre Drai who assures that his client “will fight to demonstrate that he never wanted to administer a substance to his work colleague and long-time friend to abuse her”. He could “apologize to him”.
The lawyer adds that Joël Guerriau “is not a predator, he is not a fan of chemical submission, he is an honest man, respected and respectable” and that he “will restore his honor”. Sandrine Josso will become a civil party, her lawyer Julia Minkowski tells franceinfo.
Joël Guerriau has been elected senator since 2011. Member of the group Les Indépendants du Sénat, he joins Édouard Philippe’s Horizons party in 2022. Friday, the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu, also secretary general of Horizons, declared on France Inter that Joël Guerriau could not “obviously not staying at the breast” of the Horizons party “if there is the slightest doubt”. He announced a “political office” Saturday morning during which the senator’s case will be discussed. “If it’s true, it’s appalling.”he commented.