RENNES: French Senator Joel Guerriau will resign from the upper house in early October while facing criminal charges for allegedly drugging a fellow politician.
The 67-year-old senator is accused of spiking National Assembly Deputy Sandrine Josso’s champagne with ecstasy in November 2023 with intent to commit sexual assault.
Guerriau confirmed his planned resignation to AFP while maintaining his innocence and denying any connection between his departure and the ongoing legal case.
The three-term senator claimed he had long intended to step down two years into his current six-year term regardless of the allegations.
Josso expressed disgust at Guerriau’s delayed resignation timeline and his assertion that it was unrelated to the serious charges against him.
She condemned what she called a strategic retreat rather than an act of responsibility just months before his trial begins.
Senate President Gerard Larcher had already referred Guerriau’s case to the chamber’s ethics committee in July for possible disciplinary measures.
The centre-right Horizons group suspended Guerriau from their party shortly after prosecutors charged him with drugging Josso to facilitate rape or sexual assault.
Guerriau has described the incident as a handling error rather than a deliberate attempt to drug his colleague.
This case follows another high-profile drugging conviction in France where Dominique Pelicot received a 20-year sentence for repeatedly drugging his wife for sexual assaults. – AFP
