A French lawmaker has 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.
Josso, a 50-year-old member of the National Assembly, testified that the then-senator invited her to his Paris apartment to celebrate his re-election in November 2023. She said she felt uneasy being alone with Guerriau, who appeared unusually agitated and repeatedly turned lights on and off. After taking a few sips of champagne, she experienced heart palpitations and felt herself 'slipping away'. When Guerriau took her glass to refill it, she noticed him holding 'a little bag' and realised she had likely been drugged.
Josso said she tried to hide her symptoms and 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. She described lasting trauma, including sleep disorders, difficulty eating, panic attacks, and intense stress that caused her to grind her teeth so severely that several had to be removed.
On the trial's second day, 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'. Guerriau answered the court's questions often sounding vague and confused, saying he was suffering from depression at the time and lacked a clear memory. He claimed another senator had given him MDMA powder months earlier, which he said he never used, and that he mistakenly served Josso champagne in a glass he had previously laced for himself.
'I don't have the words. It's very serious,' Guerriau told the court. 'I'm devastated.' Investigators said he had searched online about drug use, including ecstasy, in connection with rape about a month before the incident. Guerriau denied any sexual intention, saying the research was part of his senatorial work.
