French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will testify in parliament over a sexual abuse scandal at his children's school. This was reported by BFMTV, reports UNN.
Details
It is noted that Prime Minister François Bayrou will be heard on May 14 this year by the parliamentary commission investigating violence in schools, which was established after the scandal at the Catholic school Notre-Dame de Bétharram. In 1998, an official investigation was launched against the former director of this school and a priest in the case of the alleged rape of a student.
The French Prime Minister is accused of knowing about the acts of violence in Bétharram when he was the French Minister of Education - although he officially denies it
Witnesses heard in the parliamentary committee, however, say that Bayrou was aware of this.
For example, a former police officer testified under oath that a judge told him about François Bayrou's "interference" during the investigation into the rape by a clergyman at a school in 1998.
After the publication in the media at the beginning of the year, attention to the events in Notre-Dame de Bétharram was renewed, and a commission was created in parliament, which received 200 complaints of physical violence or sexual harassment by school staff.
According to BFMTV, these new complaints concern 14 priests, as well as four lay people, including three managers. At the same time, the statute of limitations has expired in all cases, so it will not be possible to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Let us remind
French actor Gérard Depardieu will be tried on charges of sexual harassment of two women during filming in 2021. In total, more than 20 women accuse the actor of violence.