Gérard Depardieu to face trial in Paris over rape and sexual assault allegations

PARIS (AP) — French film star Gérard Depardieu has been ordered to stand trial before a criminal court in Paris over allegations of rape and sexual assault against actor Charlotte Arnould.

“I feel relieved,” Arnould, 29, wrote on Instagram on Tuesday, announcing that she had received the investigating judge's indictment order. “The order restores a form of judicial truth. I think I’m having trouble realizing how huge this is.”

Arnould has said that the alleged crimes took place at Depardieu’s Paris home on Aug. 7 and Aug. 13, 2018. She was 22 and he was 69 at the time. He has denied wrongdoing.

“The acts of rape and sexual assault have been acknowledged,” Arnould said. “Now, we await the next steps.”

No date for the trial has been set yet, and there was no official comment from the court.

Arnould's lawyer, Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, said in a statement that she and Arnould were “relieved and confident," describing the decision as a “moment of judicial truth” in the case, pending trial.

Prosecutors submitted a request last year for the case to proceed to trial.

The 76-year-old Depardieu, one of the most prominent figures in French cinema for decades, has faced a series of accusations of wrongdoing against women in recent years.

He was convicted earlier this year of sexually assaulting two women on a film set and received an 18-month suspended prison sentence. The case was widely seen as a post-#MeToo test for the country’s film industry. Arnould attended that trial.

In that case, Depardieu was convicted of groping a 54-year-old woman responsible for decorating the set and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”) in 2021. The court ordered his name to be listed in the national sex offender database.

The actor has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women in all, but so far only the sexual assault case has proceeded to court. Other cases were dropped because of a lack of evidence or because the statute of limitations expired.

For more than a half-century, Depardieu stood as a towering figure in French cinema, a titan known for his commanding physical presence, instinct, sensibility and remarkable versatility. A bon vivant who overcame a speech impediment and a turbulent youth, Depardieu rose to prominence in the 1970s and became one of France’s most prolific and acclaimed actors, portraying a vast array of characters, from volatile outsiders to deeply introspective figures. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1991 for his performance as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac.

In recent years, his behavior toward women has come under renewed scrutiny, including after a documentary showed him repeatedly making obscene remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea.

FILE - Actor Charlotte Arnould leaves actor Gerard Depardieu's trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)

FILE - Actor Gerard Depardieu arrives with his lawyer Jeremie Assous, right, to face trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, file)

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said Friday after dissolving Parliament that a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil.

Osmani told The Associated Press in an interview that it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East.

“Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” Osmani said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.”

Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a 1998-99 war, hosts a U.S. military base as part of a NATO-led peacekeeping mission. The war ended after NATO bombed Serbia for 78 days. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s split and tensions have simmered ever since. Belgrade has had the support of Russia and China. Unresolved relations with Serbia have blocked Kosovo’s attempts to become a candidate country for EU membership.

Osmani dissolved Parliament on Friday after lawmakers failed to elect her successor by a midnight Thursday deadline due to a lack of a quorum in the 120-member assembly.

Osmani is yet to schedule the early vote, which would be the third ballot in Kosovo in just over a year. An election in February 2025 resulted in no clear majority and an almost yearlong political deadlock that forced a snap vote in December 2025.

“It is a difficult time for the country, which I hope our institutions and all of our citizens will overcome with maturity and with dignity," Osmani, who took office in 2021, said. She expressed hope “we will once again show that our electoral democracy is strong.”

Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s ruling Vetevendosje, or Self-Determination, party swept the early vote in December and made an alliance with ethnic minority groups to form a new government in February.

The party has asked the Constitutional Court to temporarily suspend the deadline for the election of Kosovo's next president. Kurti has criticized Osmani’s decision to dissolve Parliament as “unconstitutional.”

It was not immediately clear when the court will rule.

Asked about potential security risks in Kosovo and wider in the volatile Balkans, Osmani said “there is always a risk, so we need to be very careful."

Kosovo is “constantly in full cooperation with our U.S. partners and with other European partners and other partners in the Middle East,” said Osmani, who has joined U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza.

“I don’t think there is a reason to panic at this point in time, but we’re undertaking every single measure to make sure that if someone ever thinks of that (attacks on Kosovo) that it is absolutely prevented.”

__

Jovana Gec contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.

FILE - Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu speaks with the media as she arrives for an EU-Western Balkans Summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)