PARIS – A German journalist has accused former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing of repeatedly grabbing her during an interview, and filed a sexual assault complaint with Paris prosecutors, according to French and German news reports.
Giscard’s French lawyer said Thursday that the 94-year-old former president “retains no memory” of the incident. Giscard was president of France from 1974-1981.
German broadcaster WDR reported Wednesday night that it investigated the alleged misconduct after the journalist interviewed Giscard for WDR in December 2018.
The journalist said Giscard grabbed her buttocks three times and she tried to push his hand away, according to reports by French daily Le Monde and German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung.