French senator suspected of drugging MP

French senator Joel Guerriot was questioned on suspicion of drugging a female MP without her knowledge, BBC News reports, UNNwrites.

Details

Joel Guerriot was detained at his home after a member of parliament, identified as Sandrine Jossot, allegedly had a drink with him and then complained of feeling unwell. She was taken to a hospital where tests reportedly found traces of the drug ecstasy in her system. Based on the results of the tests, she filed a criminal complaint.

On Friday, Paris police questioned the 66-year-old senator on suspicion of "administering to a person, without his or her knowledge, a substance capable of impairing his or her judgment or self-control, with the intent to commit rape or sexual assault."

The senator's lawyer issued a statement emphasizing that "we are far from the obscene interpretation that one might come to after reading the first press reports." On Friday, he said that his client was able to convincingly confirm his version of events, which did not admit to any crime.

Under the laws that apply to those found guilty of a crime, prosecutors said the senator was not entitled to parliamentary immunity.

Addendum

Guerrio, 66, is a former banker who was elected to the Senate in 2011 and is vice chairman of the Foreign and Military Affairs Committee. In his 30s, he became a local mayor in the Atlantic Loire region of western France. Guérriot is currently one of 18 independent members of the French upper house of parliament and a member of the centrist Horizons party.

Christophe Béchoux, who is also a fellow party member and minister of the ecological transition, said Horizons representatives would meet on Saturday to discuss the position. "He clearly won't be able to stay in the party if there is even the slightest doubt about the veracity of all this," he told French radio.