French lawmaker recounts trauma in trial of ex-senator accused of drugging her with MDMA

PARIS (AP) — A French lawmaker told a Paris court she wants “the truth” to emerge from the trial of a former senator accused of drugging her to abuse her, describing a terrifying experience marked by fear she could be raped. Joël Guerriau, 68, has admitted serving Sandrine Josso a drink spiked with MDMA, known as ecstasy, but says it was an accident.

The trial brought national attention to drug-facilitated assault in the country already marked by the landmark drugging-and-rape case that turned Gisèle Pelicot into a global icon of the fight against sexual violence.

On the trial's second day Tuesday, the prosecutor asked for Guerriau to be sentenced to three years in prison and one year suspended for having drugged Josso “with a sexual purpose.”

Josso, a 50-year-old lawmaker at the National Assembly, said Monday that the then-senator invited her to his Paris apartment to celebrate his reelection in November 2023. The two had known each other for years and were on friendly terms.

“I really felt myself slipping away,” Josso testified, saying she experienced heart palpitations shortly after taking a few sips of champagne. She said she felt uneasy being alone with Guerriau, who appeared unusually agitated and repeatedly turned lights on and off.

Josso said Guerriau later took her glass into the kitchen to refill it. That's when she noticed him holding “a little bag,” which made her realize she had likely been drugged.

“My legs were shaking, I was extremely thirsty,” she recalled, her voice breaking.

Josso said she tried to hide her symptoms, afraid to alert Guerriau. She eventually managed to leave and take a taxi.

“I think about my children, I call my colleague, I tell him that I’m going to die,” she told the court, crying.

Blood tests later showed she had ingested a quantity of MDMA far higher than levels typically associated with recreational use.

“I want the truth to come out. It’s important to me,” she said.

Josso described lasting trauma, including sleep disorders, difficulty eating, panic attacks on trains and stairways, and intense stress that caused her to grind her teeth so severely that several had to be removed.

Ex-senator says he's ‘devastated’

For hours on Monday, Guerriau answered the court's questions often sounding vague and confused, saying he was suffering from depression at the time and still lacked a clear memory of events.

Guerriau resigned as senator in October, presenting the move as a political decision with no link to the legal proceedings.

He acknowledged what he called his “stupidity” and “ignorance” about drugs. Guerriau said another senator had given him MDMA powder months earlier, which he said he never used.

He said that on the evening before Josso visited, he put some of the drug into a glass he intended to use himself, but changed his mind and set it aside. The next day, he mistakenly used the same glass to serve champagne to Josso, he said.

“I don’t have the words. It’s very serious,” Guerriau told the court. “I’m devastated.”

Investigators said Guerriau had searched online about drug use, including ecstasy, in connection with rape about a month before the incident. Guerriau said the research was part of his work as a senator and meant to better understand the issue.

Asked by his lawyer whether there had been any sexual discussion that evening, Guerriau replied no. Pressed on whether he intended to rape Josso, he responded: “No, no, no.”