“It is extremely difficult to prove the “second time””: the lawyer assessed the accusation of rape against the writer Begbeder

The young woman said that repeated sex with the author of a number of best-selling books was without her consent

The famous writer Frederic Beigbeder was taken into custody at the police station of Pau (Piranne-Atlantique), a region in southwestern France. The author of the novels “Love Lives for Three Years” and “99 Francs” is suspected of rape – a preliminary investigation is currently underway. However, the chances that it will result in a serious case, followed by a real sentence, are extremely small.

When information about the arrest of Frederic Beigbeder appeared in the French media, someone thought that it might be related to drugs. The fact is that the author of the novel “Stories on Ecstasy” was detained by the police in 2008 at the very moment when he was taking cocaine right on the hood of his car. During the search, two more bags of the substance were found on him. However, it turned out that now we are talking about something else. This is not rock and roll or drugs, but sex.

It turned out that back in the summer of 2022, the popular writer had a one-night stand with a certain young woman. They retired to a hotel room. The girl claims that the first intimate relationship between her and 58-year-old Begbeder was by mutual consent, but the second time was against her will.

– These types of accusations are purely evaluative in nature, since it will be very difficult for the investigation to prove whether the “second time” was against the lady’s will, or whether she “changed her mind a little” or decided to realize any of her other goals (additional income, deliberate slander, revenge, blackmail). , says lawyer Yulia Verbitskaya. – In some ways, we see the process of “witch hunt” in exactly the opposite way. If previously any spoken word was enough to accuse a woman of witchcraft, now any word a woman says is enough to accuse her of “rape” or “sexual harassment” by a man.