French court confirms dropping of rape case against director Besson

Pallade Veneta - French court confirms dropping of rape case against director Besson

CULTURE 24.05.2022

French court confirms dropping of rape case against director Besson / Photo: MARTIN BUREAU - AFP

The Paris court of appeal on Tuesday confirmed the dropping of rape accusations against French film director Luc Besson, one of the highest profile controversies of the #MeToo era in the country.

Change text size:

Dutch-Belgian actress Sand Van Roy had accused Besson -- director of the "Fifth Element" and "Leon" -- of raping her over a two-year on-off relationship, and filed a complaint against him in May 2018.

Prosecutors dropped the case in February 2019 citing lack of evidence, but a new investigation was opened later that year after Van Roy brought fresh charges.

A French magistrate then closed the case in December 2021 and prosecutors asked for it to be dropped in April.

Besson had always denied the accusations, describing the case in 2019 as "a lie from A to Z".

"The court confirmed my client's innocence... Luc Besson regrets these four lost years," his lawyer Thierry Marembert said after the verdict.

But Van Roy's lawyer Antoine Gitton said an appeal would immediately be filed for his client with France's Court of Cassation.

Besson has admitted having a relationship with Van Roy, who had minor roles in his films "Taxi 5" and "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets".

She filed the initial complaint for rape in May 2018 hours after meeting Besson, before filing another complaint two months later for other alleged rapes and sexual assaults.

At least three other women have made allegations of sexual harassment against Besson but he has always denied all the allegations.

P.Colombo--PV

Jersey Boys Anniversary Tour Opens in Birmingham With Gritty Account of Crime and Fame

The 20th-anniversary tour of Jersey Boys has opened at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre, offering a gritty and unvarnished look at the Four Seasons’ journey. The production details the band's turbulent rise from New Jersey petty criminals to international rock stars, highlighting the complex personal costs behind their musical success.

UBC professor describes police call after Galloway remark as act of care

VANCOUVER — A University of British Columbia professor has testified about a colleague’s decision to call police to visit Steven Galloway after he was accused of sexual assault, describing it as an “act of care” toward the author, who had spoken of killing himself. Galloway, who is suing his accuser and others in a defamation trial centred on the unproven allegations, has described his subsequent committal to a hospital in the United States as “terrifying.

Pallade Veneta - French court confirms dropping of rape case against director Besson