French prosecutors request rape and sexual assault charges against pop icon Patrick Bruel, 67, as he denies all allegations.
PARIS: French prosecutors said Wednesday they had requested pop icon Patrick Bruel be charged and placed in pre-trial detention over allegations of rape and sexual assault.
The 67-year-old, a major figure in French pop culture with multiple top-selling albums and dozens of film appearances, has denied any wrongdoing.
He is the latest top French celebrity to face investigators in the wake of the #MeToo movement, after film legend Gerard Depardieu was handed a suspended 18-month prison sentence last year for sexually assaulting two women on a film set.
Bruel was detained on Monday for questioning.
“The public prosecutor has requested the opening of a judicial investigation against him and that he be charged over acts of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment involving nine victims committed between 2010 and 2019,” the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre said.
The prosecutor “requested that he be placed in pre-trial detention”, it added.
Bruel was to appear before investigating magistrates later on Wednesday, who will decide whether to charge him.
Several new allegations against the star have been reported since police detained him for questioning on Monday.
