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French Actress Wins Criminal Case Over Hollande Affair Pics

French Actress Wins Criminal Case Over Hollande Affair Pics

dpa

PARIS — French actress Julie Gayet whose affair with President Francois Hollande caused a sensation earlier this year won a second court case Tuesday against the gossip magazine that revealed their liaison.

A criminal court in Nanterre west of Paris ruled that a picture of published by Closer magazine of Gayet in her car was a violation of her privacy and handed the magazine’s editor and the photographer who took the image suspended fines, French radio reported.

The picture appeared in Closer‘s January 17 edition, a week after the paper first revealed the liaison between the 60-year-old president and 42-year-old actress.

In France, taking a person’s photograph in a private place without their consent is an offense punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (59,000 dollars).

Gayet successfully argued that her car was a private place.

The ruling is the second against Closer over the affair.

In a civil case in March, the magazine was ordered to pay Gayet 15,000 euros in damages over an earlier set of pictures showing her and Hollande arriving separately at a Paris apartment they allegedly used for trysts.

The pictures led to Hollande’s split from his partner of several years, journalist Valerie Trierweiler.

Trierweiler, 49, is bringing out a book on Thursday on her year-and-a-half stint as first lady, France Info radio reported Tuesday.

The book’s release was confirmed to the radio by Les Arenes publishing company.

A journalist for the parliamentary channel LCP tweeted that the account was entitled “Merci pour le moment” (Thanks for the moment) and that it “does not spare Hollande.”

AFP Photo/Jewel Samad

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Hollande Under Fresh Scrutiny Over Affair

Hollande Under Fresh Scrutiny Over Affair

Paris (AFP) – French President Francois Hollande faced fresh scrutiny over his affair with an actress on Friday as the magazine that broke the story published claims he started seeing her before his 2012 election.

In its latest revelations about a saga that has made headlines around the world, Closer magazine said Hollande had been introduced to Julie Gayet, 41, during campaigning, fell for her immediately and “relations quickly became more intimate.”

The latest edition of the glossy weekly hit stands as Hollande’s office confirmed that he had visited his official partner, Valerie Trierweiler, for the first time since she was hospitalized in the wake of the affair revelations.

Hollande visited Trierweiler at a Paris hospital on Thursday evening, six days after she was admitted, a spokesman told AFP.

His failure to visit earlier had helped to fuel speculation that he has decided to end the relationship with Trierweiler, for whom he left Segolene Royal, the mother of his four children, in 2005.

Hollande has said he will clarify the position of France’s de facto First Lady before a trip to Washington next month but has refused any other comment on the scandal.

Closer, which is being sued by Gayet for alleged breach of privacy, reported last week that she had been having secret trysts with the president and published photographs of the pair arriving separately at a borrowed flat near his official residence, the Elysee Palace.

Hours later, Trierweiler, was admitted to a Paris hospital where she remained Friday after a week of treatment for symptoms described as including nervous exhaustion and low blood pressure.

In its follow-up story, Closer depicted Hollande’s romance with Gayet as much more than a brief fling, although it offered little in the way of concrete evidence and, unlike last week’s scoop, no pictures to back up its account.

The magazine said the couple had also regularly met at another Paris apartment and at Gayet’s loft in eastern Paris, where she hosted frequent dinner parties for members of France’s artistic, intellectual and political elite.

According to Closer, the couple took a break from seeing each other in May of last year after Trierweiler confronted Hollande over rumors he was seeing the actress.

‘Secret mini-breaks’

But by July, Hollande and Gayet had reportedly resumed their romance with the president entertaining the actress in Tulle, in his former parliamentary seat in the Correze region of central France, while Trierweiler was holidaying in Greece.

Another secret mini-break allegedly followed in September at Hollande’s holiday home at Mougins on the French Riviera.

Closer said on Thursday that Gayet was seeking damages of 50,000 euros on the grounds that the magazine’s first report on the affair represented an illegal breach of her privacy.

Hollande has not denied the magazine’s report and has ruled out any legal action on his own behalf.

If it is confirmed that Hollande did begin an affair with Gayet before his 2012 victory over Nicolas Sarkozy, it will mean he presented voters with a false image of his domestic set-up during the campaign when he was said to have found happiness with Trierweiler.

Closer’s revelations have also raised questions about whether Hollande’s nocturnal activities endangered his security, about his judgement and about whether he could have been distracted from doing his job.

Those issues have been given scant consideration in the mainstream media in France, which is traditionally reticent about prying into the private lives of public figures.

The affairs of recent presidents including Jacques Chirac and Valery Giscard d’Estaing were all covered up and Francois Mitterrand was elected twice without voters knowing he had a secret mistress and daughter.

The media scene in France however is being transformed by the Internet and the success of the gossip-based publications like Closer, which argue the public has a right to know what their leaders are up to behind closed doors.

Photo: Kenzo Tribouillar via AFP

Hollande Vows To Deal With Affair Fallout In Private

Hollande Vows To Deal With Affair Fallout In Private

Paris (AFP) – French President Francois Hollande vowed Tuesday to deal with the fallout from his affair with an actress in private, defiantly batting away questions over the future of Valerie Treirweiler.

Looking stiff and stressed at a packed press conference, the Socialist leader admitted the couple were going through “painful moments” and indicated that the status of his long-term girlfriend would be clarified before a scheduled trip to the United States next month.

Trierweiler, France’s de facto First Lady, has been invited to accompany Hollande on an official visit including an overnight stay at the White House.

She has been in the hospital since Friday with stress linked to last week’s revelation that Hollande, 59, has been having a secret liason with Julie Gayet, 41.

Asked directly if Trierweiler was still France’s First Lady, Hollande insisted on the troubled couple’s right to privacy.

“I understand your question and I’m sure you will understand my response,” he said. “Everyone in their personal lives can go through tough times. That is the case [for me]. These are painful moments. But I have one principle: these private affairs are dealt with in private. This is neither the time nor the place to do it so I will not be responding to any questions about my private life.”

The instruction did the trick and Hollande visibly relaxed as it became apparent he was not going be given the kind of grilling a leader in Britain or the United States could have expected in similar circumstances.

After the opening question, Hollande was not asked directly about Trierweiler until questioned on her state of health nearly two hours later. “She’s resting and I have no further comment to make,” he replied.

Trierweiler, 48, was admitted to hospital hours after glossy magazine Closer published a series of photos showing Hollande and Gayet arriving separately for trysts at a flat close to the presidential Elysee Palace.

Media reports claimed the former journalist was suffering from low blood pressure, exhaustion and a “severe case of the blues.”

She had initially been expected to be discharged after three nights but aides announced on Monday that she had been advised to extend her stay, saying “doctors believe she needs more rest.”

Hollande reiterated his “total indignation” over Closer’s intrusion into his private life but said he would not be taking legal action over a report he has not denied.

Friends and political allies of Hollande had urged him to move quickly to clarify the situation by stating clearly whether he is still in a relationship with Trierweiler.

Instead, he opted to put off a public announcement of any decision the couple have made about their future.

Friends of Trierweiler have been quoted in French media as saying she is willing to forgive Hollande if he ends things with Gayet.

As well as the position of Trierweiler, who has a staff of five funded by the taxpayers, the affair has raised questions about whether Hollande risked his own safety by visiting the actress at a borrowed flat close to the Elysee.

Sebastien Valiela, the photographer who took the incriminating pictures, said it was obvious that Hollande was inadequately protected.

But the president insisted his security had never been compromised. “No one needs to have any worries about that,” he said.

Having put her career as a journalist for Paris Match on hold after Hollande’s 2012 election, Trierweiler has previously accompanied him on overseas visits to China, Japan and India, her glamorous looks and chic style often ensuring that she generated more headlines than her partner.

Hollande, whose approval ratings were already the lowest of any president of recent times, appears to have avoided any significant political damage from the scandal.

Polls suggest just over three in four voters believe Hollande’s love life is his own business and one survey even showed a slight upturn in support for the beleaguered leader.

Twice-divorced Trierweiler has officially been Hollande’s partner since 2007, when he left Segolene Royal, a fellow heavyweight in the Socialist Party with whom he has four children.

Dressed in a somber navy blue suit and matching tie, the 59-year-old Socialist leader made no mention of the turmoil in his private life during an opening 45 minutes dedicated to outlining a new pro-business economic policy aimed at spurring growth and creating jobs.

A centerpiece of the plan is a 30 billion euro ($40 billion) cut in payroll taxes by 2017 through the abolition of so-called family contributions paid by companies and independent workers.

Hollande vowed that the reduction in company taxation would not be balanced by a corresponding increase in taxes on households.

AFP Photo/Alain Jocard