Actor Gerard Depardieu claims innocence in the wake of rape charge
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ROME • French acting legend Gerard Depardieu told an Italian paper on Thursday he had "nothing to fear" from "totally baseless" rape charges against him.
Depardieu, 72, has been charged in France with rape and sexual assault allegedly committed in 2018 against an actress in her 20s, a judicial source said on Tuesday.
"I thought the case was closed. I am innocent and I have nothing to fear," the actor told La Repubblica newspaper.
"This is why I have always been very serene in the knowledge that the accusations are totally baseless," he added, saying he would attend a court hearing on March 10 to defend himself.
The actress accuses Depardieu of having raped and assaulted her on two separate occasions at his Parisian home in August 2018.
An initial investigation into the accusations was dropped in 2019 for lack of evidence, but reopened last summer, leading to criminal charges filed in December, the judicial source said.
Depardieu's lawyer said on Wednesday the actor strongly contests the rape and sexual assault charges levelled against him and asked that the associated investigation be allowed to proceed away from the public eye.
"Mr Depardieu was indicted in December 2020, information that had remained secret since then, in accordance with French law. This information became public yesterday, which is regrettable," lawyer Herve Temime said in a statement.
"Mr Depardieu is and remains presumed innocent. He strongly contests the accusations against him. The investigation must continue in calm, secrecy and respect for Mr Depardieu's presumption of innocence."
Besides long being a superstar in his home country, Depardieu is one of France's best-known actors abroad.
He won acclaim in French-language films such as The Last Metro (1980) and Jean De Florette (1986) and went on to perform in a range of English-language movies, including the romantic comedy Green Card (1990) and a film version of Hamlet (1996).
He is famous for untiringly shooting film after film, clocking more than 200 cinema or television films over more than 50 years.
Besides his prolific acting career, he has also been a winemaker, restaurant owner and singer.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
