"I'm cleared, I'm cleared. "It is with his words that the former national secretary of EELV Julien Bayou, who had been implicated for psychological violence on an ex-companion, said on Wednesday February 15 that he wanted to "turn the page" and fully resume his deputy work.
The internal unit of Europe Écologie-Les Verts dedicated to gender-based and sexual violence decided on February 1 to "close the file" concerning him, for lack of having been able to "complete its investigation". Because the initial hearing of his ex-companion, "starting point of the investigation, could not take place" and "nobody else entered the cell about Julien Bayou", she had noted.
The MP for Paris reacted on BFMTV / RMC: "I was cleared. There were extremely serious, but very vague accusations, accusations that were not presented to me, and finally, at the end of a, let's call it, investigation, there are no testimonies, no complaints, no handrails, no reports, no alleged wrongdoings, no facts at all for that matter." “I am cleared, innocent, of course, innocent. I bowed to this media reserve […] and I am happy today to be able to turn the page and concentrate fully on the work at the Assembly,” he insisted.
His colleague, the deputy EELV Sandrine Rousseau, who had relayed the accusations on a television set, refused last week to say that he was innocent, because there was "no investigation" according to her. . Julien Bayou said he was "very surprised". "We are not in the United States, there is no presumed culprit. We are in France, you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. […] And once you are no longer implicated, you are innocent,” he said.
But the deputy "doesn't ask him anything at all. I don't expect anything from it, I want to turn the page," he continued. "I will not constantly justify myself from accusations that have not been presented and which no longer exist," insisted Julien Bayou. He said he did not wish to resume his post as co-chair of the environmental group in the Assembly, from which he had been withdrawn last September.
"Today there is a president, Cyrielle Chatelain, she is doing a good job, there is no reason to [...] hand over a co-presidency," he explained. "I aspire to focus on where I can be useful, the battle against pension reform", and "the fight against climate change". He, who is one of the artisans of Nupes, also wishes to "work on a single candidacy for the left and environmentalists" for the 2027 presidential election.
