Head of prestigious French university under fire for ignoring Duhamel rape claims

Olivier Duhamel has resigned from his job at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques over the rape allegations

Credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN /AFP

The head of Paris’ most prestigious political sciences school faced calls to resign on Thursday after admitting that he was aware of rape allegations concerning one of the institution’s highest-profile teachers.

The admission comes after Paris prosecutors on Tuesday launched a probe into allegations that Olivier Duhamel, one of France’s best-known political scientists and commentators, raped and sexually abused his stepson.

Camille Kouchner — the alleged victim’s twin — made the accusations of “incest” in a book out this week called "La Familia grande" in which she says her stepfather raped her brother over a two-year period in the 1980s when he was as young as 13.

Mr Duhamel, 70, a leading constitutional expert, has resigned from his job at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, which oversees and finances the prestigious Sciences Po grande école, but has made no comment on the allegations.

The head of the school, Frédéric Mion, initially expressed shock at the allegations, saying he knew nothing about them.

However, it transpired on Tuesday that he had been previously alerted to them by Aurélie Filipetti, the former French culture minister in 2019, who teaches at Sciences Po.

Contacted by Le Monde, Mr Mion confirmed he had in fact been made aware of these but was “assured that these were mere rumours” by an associate of Mr Duhamel.

“I should have gone and sought out Olivier Duhamel. It was an elementary duty,” he said. “I was thoughtless and lacked discernment.”

The Unef students union at Sciences Po called for his resignation, saying he had “lied twice” about whether he was aware of the allegations.

The feminist group GARCES at the school made the same call adding: “To protect someone accused of incest is not an inconsequential act.”