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one French Former senator to appear in court on Monday Paris The case, which accuses her of drugging another lawmaker to sexually assault her, echoes the landmark drugging and rape trial that captivated France and made Gisele Pellico a global icon in the fight against sexual violence.
Joël Guerriau, 68, charged with drug abuse Ecstasy He offered a glass of champagne to MP Sandrine Josso, who left after feeling ill. He admitted offering her a drink laced with ecstasy but said it was an accident.
Josso, 50, has since been outspoken about the case and helped lead a parliamentary inquiry into drug-related crimes.
Here’s what you need to know about the French drug bust that has captured national attention.
Guerriau accused of adding MDMA to drinks
Gallio was charged with drug use and possession and secret use of a cognitive-altering substance to commit rape or sexual assault.
According to centrist lawmaker Joso, the center-right senator invited her to his apartment in Paris for what she thought was a re-election celebration. Gioso has known Gallio for many years and considers him a friend.
She told French media that she began to feel unwell soon after drinking the champagne.
“I had heart palpitations. I had never experienced all these horrible symptoms, and I felt like I was going into cardiac arrest,” she described.
Gioso also said that at one point she spotted Gallio holding a small bag. She went out to take a taxi to a hospital where ecstasy was found in a blood test.
Two months later, when she came back National Assembly”, she described the scene.
“I went to a friend’s house to celebrate his re-election. I came out scared,” she told lawmakers. “I spotted an attacker. Then I realized I had been drugged without my knowledge. This is what we call a drug-facilitated assault,” she added.
Gallio said he had no intention of drugging Joso or attacking her.
Ex-senator denies knowingly drugging lawmaker
Lawyers for the former senator argued their client made a “processing error” that led him to serve Joso a drugged drink.
They admitted he had the drugs at home, saying he suffered from depression and said he had put them in a glass the day before with the intention of drinking them himself, but failed to do so and then mistakenly handed the glass to Joso.
Despite political pressure to resign, Guerrio remained a senator for nearly two years following the accusations. He resigned in October, saying the move was a political decision and had nothing to do with legal proceedings.
Drugging another person to commit rape or sexual assault is punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Guerriau also faces up to 10 years in prison for drug possession.
The case echoes the landmark Pellicott trial
Less than a year after the senator’s case broke out, the case of Giselle Pellicot shocked France and focused the world’s attention on drug-fueled sexual abuse.
Pellicott’s ex-husband and 50 other men were convicted of sexually assaulting her between 2011 and 2020.
The harrowing and unprecedented trial exposed how pornography, chat rooms and men’s indifferent or unclear understanding of consent contribute to rape culture.
Josseau became a key figure in France’s fight against drug-related sexual abuse, joining an association founded by Giselle Pellicot’s daughter, Caroline Darien, and co-authoring a parliamentary report on drug-related sexual abuse.
Following the Pellicot trial, France passed a new law in October 2025 defining rape and other sexual assaults as any sexual activity without consent. Previously, under French law, rape was defined as penetration or oral sex using “force, coercion, threats or surprise.”