Former French senator accused of drugging a female MP sentenced to 18 months in prison

Paris.- French Justice sentenced this Tuesday a total of four years in prison, although only 18 months of them to be served, to former senator Joël Guerriau for having drugged a congresswoman to try to sexually abuse her. After two days of trial, the Paris Correctional Court also sentenced the former legislator, 68, to a five-year disqualification and a ban on contacting the victim, Sandrine Josso (50). In addition, it must compensate her with 9000 euros, of which 5000 correspond to moral damages. The execution of the sentence will not be immediate, as requested by the Prosecution (which had asked for four years in prison, three of them firm), and the former senator immediately announced, through his lawyers, that he will appeal the sentence.

This case dates back to the end of 2023 and first put the focus in France on the phenomenon of chemical submission in sexual assaults, something that a year later would cross borders with the case of Gisèle Pelicot, drugged for years with anxiolytics by her husband, who raped her and offered her to dozens of strangers recruited via the internet.

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The facts judged this Tuesday and Wednesday date back to November 14, 2023, when the then-senator of the center-right Horizons party invited deputy Sandrine Josso, from the centrist Modem party, to his home for dinner to celebrate his re-election, and allegedly drugged her in order to sexually assault her.

"The truth is that he intentionally poisoned Mrs. Josso for sexual purposes," stated prosecutor Benjamin Coulon today.

For the prosecutor, it was "evident" that Guerriau was guilty of the crime of "administering to a person, without their knowledge, a substance that may affect their judgment or control of their actions in order to commit rape or sexual assault", which in France is punishable by a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros. The congresswoman maintained that the accused offered her a glass of champagne, in which she noticed a strange taste and which caused her dizziness, palpitations and nausea, which, accompanied by unusual behavior from the accused, led Josso to leave precipitously. Panic-stricken, she managed to call a taxi and go to a hospital to quickly undergo a blood test, which revealed a very high concentration of ecstasy (MDMA), an euphoric drug. The judge specified that his blood alcohol level was double the amount normally used for "recreational" purposes. Guerriau denied having drugged Josso to assault her and stated that it was an "involuntary act" on his part. He explained that at that stage he was going through a moment of depression and great stress due to his tenth electoral campaign and that another senator, whom he did not identify, provided him with a small bag containing an undetermined powder that he believed was simply euphoric. That powder, he said, was in the glass he mistakenly used to serve champagne to his old friend, to whom he apologized. In court, the congresswoman recounted a night of nightmares, the after-effects of which, according to her, she still suffers. She listed numerous health problems: hypervigilance, sleep disorders and exhaustion, as well as recurrent sciatica, a herniated disc and four lost teeth due to constant tension. The lawyer of the former senator until last October argued that no element allowed to "prove" that his client had voluntarily put the drug in the deputy's glass and denounced what he considered a "media clamor" to present this trial as "the parliamentary version" of the Pelicot case violations.