MEP for Europe Ecology-The Greens (EELV) Sandrine Rousseau, who two weeks ago relayed accusations of psychological violence against her colleague Julien Bayou, strongly contested, on Sunday October 2, the substance of an investigation by Release on this case published on Friday. Ms. Rousseau also said on France 3 that she was not “completely unaware” of the existence of the feminist collective that informally investigated the number one environmentalist, as the daily reports.
According Release, Julien Bayou, who contests the accusations of psychological violence against an ex-companion, had lived for three years under the pressure of an informal feminist collective which reproached him for his conduct and investigated his relations with women, going so far as to question his former companions. always according to Releaseone of the women members of the unit responsible for processing reports of sexual and gender-based violence in the party, and which is currently investigating the case of Julien Bayou, is also part of this informal group that has targeted the private life of the deputy for Paris .
“An informal group of women”
Sandrine Rousseau declared in particular about the investigation of Release : “(…) I read the article and it is not at all a surveillance, it has nothing to do with a surveillance, and moreover this article seems to me extremely problematic on the bottom “, she added. According to Ms. Rousseau, “It’s not a cell, it’s an informal group of women who talk to each other. Women have the right to talk to each other and they have the right to protect themselves and until justice does, there is nothing wrong with that.”.
EELV’s internal cell had self-seized an investigation into Julien Bayou in July after an email from his ex-girlfriend, from whom he separated in November 2021. The case took a new turn on 19 September, when MP Sandrine Rousseau accused him of “behaviours likely to break the moral health of women” on a TV set, recounting having “received for a long time” Mr. Bayou’s ex-companion at home.
On Sunday, the member for Paris also approved the fact that Julien Bayou “do not speak on behalf of the environmental group” during the time of the investigation, justifying this silence on behalf of “protecting women’s speech”.
The day after the publication of the article, on Saturday, the management of EELV met, arguing that “the information published in Freed confirm the need to reflect on the best way to deal with this particular case”. On this occasion, she renewed her confidence in the cell.