French prosecutors are investigating the alleged rape of a female soldier by a fellow serviceman at the presidential palace in Paris, a source said Friday, IgbereTV reports.
The alleged assault took place after a going-away reception for a general and two others that President Macron attended in July, according to French daily Liberation, which first reported the accusations.
The accused soldier was named an assistant witness after questioning by prosecutors on July 12, indicating he remains subject to further interrogations but has not been formally charged, a judicial source confirmed to IgbereTV.
Macron’s office has made avoiding presidential scandals a priority since embarrassing revelations that one of his bodyguards assaulted young demonstrators while posing as a police officer during a May Day protest in 2018.
Last week the bodyguard, Alexandre Benalla, was handed a three-year sentence over the incident, though he can avoid a cell by wearing an electronic bracelet for a year.
