By Shweta Desai
PARIS (AA) - A Paris court has once again dismissed a case seeking an investigation into the rape charges against Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, local media reported on Monday.
Darmanin’s lawyers informed the media that the court ordered a dismissal of the case on Friday, July 8.
The minister was accused of rape, sexual harassment, and breach of trust by Sophie Spatz, a former escort, in a complaint filed in 2017.
"For the fourth time in five years, the justice affirms that no reprehensible act can be reproached to Mr. Gerald Darmanin,” the lawyers said in a statement quoted by BFMTV.
The Macron government has been facing criticism from feminist associations and the general public for appointing Darmanin as an interior minister in charge of law and security agencies while being accused of rape.
In 2019, the Paris Court of Appeal reopened investigations in the case after it was dismissed twice by other investigating judges.
Spatz had accused Darmanin of exerting "psychological constraints" against her to obtain sexual favors in 2009 when he was legal adviser to the now-defunct Union for a Popular Movement party.
The two had a sexual encounter after meeting for drinks and dinner in a Paris restaurant. Spatz claimed the sexual relationship was forced while according to Darmanin it was consensual on her initiative.