French senator arrested for allegedly spiking MP's drink to assault her
File photo.
Joel Guerriau, a senator from France has been arrested on the suspicion of drugging a lower house MP to assault her. Speaking to the news agency AFP on Friday (Nov 17), a source said that Guerriau was arrested on Thursday after the alleged attempted assault against MP Sandrine Josso. According to prosecutors, Guerriau,66, was being held on suspicion of "administering to a person without their knowledge a substance, likely to diminish their judgement or self-control, to commit a rape or sexual assault."
Josso felt ill after she accepted a drink on Tuesday night at the senator's home in Paris. Prosecutors said the two were not in an intimate relationship.
Police raid senator's home and office, find ecstasy
Investigators said that Josso had ecstasy in her system. A report by the RMC said that the police carried out a raid at Guerriau's home and office, and found ecstasy. On Friday, the victim and the accused faced each other during two hours of joint questioning by investigators.
Josso, an MP for the centrist MoDem party, "is still in a state of shock," her lawyer Julia Minkowski, told AFP.
The MP said that she was unwell after drinking a glass of champagne and had seen the senator "grabbing a small plastic bag containing something white, in a drawer in his kitchen."
"She had to deploy monumental physical and intellectual forces to overcome her terror and extricate herself at the last minute from this ambush," Minkowski told the news agency.
"Added to this is a feeling of betrayal and total incomprehension -- Joel Guerriau had been a friend for around ten years in whom she had complete confidence," the lawyer further said.
'Senator will face consequences if...': Minister
French Environment Minister Christophe Bechu said on Friday that Guerriau would face consequences if the least of this case was true. Bechu said that chiefs of the Horizons party of which Guerriau is a member, would hold a meeting on Saturday to discuss the situation.
"Of course, he won't be able to stay if there is the slightest doubt," the minister added.
(With inputs from agencies)