French singer Patrick Bruel faces rape charges

One of France's best-known showbusiness stars, Patrick Bruel, has been placed under judicial investigation on several counts of rape and sexual abuse, in the latest fallout from the Me Too movement.

After two days in custody in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre, the 67-year-old singer and actor went before a panel of four judges on Wednesday evening.

They confirmed the state prosecutor's request that Bruel be placed under investigation in several cases of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault and harassment. A judge is deciding whether to keep him in custody.

Bruel has consistently denied the charges against him.

Being placed under investigation means that an examining magistrate will now look more deeply into the charges against Bruel, whose lawyers will have access to the prosecution file.

In most cases, the procedure results in a trial.

Under French law, rape is defined as "any non-consensual act of penetration".

Feminist campaigners reacted to the news with satisfaction.

The case against Bruel comes at a time of heightened sensitivity in France about judicial treatment of sex offences, after the murder of an 11 year-old girl called Lyhanna, whose suspected killer had been the object of several prior denunciations for abuse.

Alongside actor Gérard Depardieu, Bruel is the most celebrated French figure to be targeted by accusations of sexual abuse.

Depardieu, 77, was given a suspended sentence last year for sexual assault on a film set, and he has appealed against the conviction.

Born Patrick Benguigui in Algeria in 1959, Bruel rose to fame in the early 1980s with songs like Marre de cette nana-là (Had enough of that chick). His strong voice and dark, brooding looks led to a wave what was termed at the time Bruelmania .

He has also appeared in more than 30 films, and was recently on stage in a theatre production in Paris.

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Bruel's last performances there were cancelled because of the allegations, as were most dates on a planned concert tour of France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada. This will now definitively not take place.

The singer was the object of a previous series of complaints for sexual harassment, but these were shelved in 2020 for lack of evidence.

In May this year, investigative website Mediapart reported that around 30 women had told similar stories of harassment or assault, many of them taking place on film locations or off-stage in music venues.

Last month the accusers were joined by well-known TV and radio presenter Flavie Flament, who alleged that in 1991 – when she was 16 and he 32 – the singer had drugged and raped her at his Paris home.

The Flament case is not among the nine cited by the judges, because the alleged crime took place too long ago. However, the state prosecutor has asked that it and 12 other older allegations be reconsidered with a view to possible inclusion in the charges.

Bruel has denied the allegations. According to French media, he told his "entourage" recently that "I may have been heavy-handed… but I always took no for an answer".

In a post on Instagram last month the singer said that he had never in his life "forced myself on a woman".

"Nor have I ever drugged, manipulated or tried to subjugate anyone… nor used my fame to abuse or obtain non-consensual relations," he said.

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