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Depardieu ‘was trying to pee into bottle’ on delayed flight

France's best-known film star Gerard Depardieu insisted on Wednesday he had been trying to urinate discreetly into a bottle when he splashed a plane's carpet and caused a flight delay, friends said.

Depardieu 'was trying to pee into bottle' on delayed flight
Thore Siebrands

Depardieu was caught short on a Paris to Dublin flight and relieved himself on the cabin floor in front of shocked passengers, a witness and the airline said Wednesday.  

But a friend of the actor disputed the account, claiming that the 62-year-old bon vivant had been trying to urinate into a bottle and was “mortified” to cause a spillage.  

The plane taxied back to the terminal and Depardieu was escorted off the flight by ground crew without incident.  

“I will only confirm that he, in effect, urinated in the plane,” a Paris spokeswoman for Air France-KLM, parent company of CityJet, operator of the Tuesday flight from Charles de Gaulle that was delayed by the incident.  

A passenger told Europe 1 radio Depardieu was visibly inebriated and tried to stand up before take-off, declaring: “I want to piss. I want to piss.”  

A stewardess asked the well-loved celebrity — who was on his way to Ireland to play comic book warrior Asterix’s huge sidekick Obelix in a film adaptation — to wait 15 minutes until after the seat-belt lights were put out.  

“And there and then he stood up and did it on the floor. We could see he had been drinking. The stewardess was dumbfounded,” the witness said.  

But friends of the “mortified” star, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said he had told them he was “absolutely not drunk” but had been caught short and forced to pee into a bottle as privately as possible.  

They confirmed the witness’ account that the stewardess had asked him to wait 15 minutes before the toilets would be opened, and said he had agreed, but added that the flight had then been delayed a further 20 minutes.  

A flying companion, fellow actor Edouard Baer, had therefore offered him an empty bottle to ease his aching bladder.  

When some urine spilled onto the floor, Depardieu was mortified and offered to clean it up himself, but the crew decided to turn round and taxi back to the terminal and have him escorted off the jet by ground crew, they explained.  

“No charges were brought and no fine was imposed, and he had the impression that his position about the misunderstanding and the inflexible attitude of the stewardess had been understood by those he spoke to,” one added.  

The source added Depardieu had been able take the next flight to Dublin.  

“The passenger refused to remain in his seat. It was the captain’s decision it was best to return the plane to the stand,” a CityJet spokeswoman said, adding the flight was delayed for one hour and 15 minutes.  

She said the passenger did not appear to the crew to be drunk. Police were initially called, but he was escorted from the plane by ground crew.  

While the spokeswoman attempted to be discreet, refusing to confirm the culprit’s identity and speaking only of an “incident on board”, her firm CityJet made fun of Depardieu on its public Twitter account.  

“As you may have seen on the news, we are busy mopping the floor of one of our planes this morning,” the company joked in one message on the popular microblogging site.  

Later, it added: “We’d also like to remind all passengers that our planes are fully equipped with toilet facilities.” 

CityJet said the messages were meant to “poke fun” and “were done this morning in a humorous way. In no way do they reflect an official message.”  

Depardieu is perhaps the best known face in French cinema, having appeared in almost 200 films, and is best known abroad as the star of the 1990 literary epic “Cyrano de Bergerac” and the US romantic comedy “Green Card”.  

He is a successful winemaker and restaurateur but in 1990 was convicted of drunk driving. His behaviour has been criticised in the past, notably when he headbutted a press photographer, but he is still a well-loved public figure.

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Is Switzerland’s male-only mandatory military service ‘discriminatory’?

Under Swiss law, all men must serve at least one year in compulsory national service. But is this discriminatory?

Swiss military members walk across a road carrying guns
A new lawsuit seeks to challenge Switzerland's male-only military service requirement. Is this discriminatory? FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

All men aged between the ages of 18 and 30 are required to complete compulsory military service in Switzerland. 

A lawsuit which worked its way through the Swiss courts has now ended up in the European Court of Human Rights, where the judges will decide if Switzerland’s male-only conscription requirement violates anti-discrimination rules. 

Switzerland’s NZZ newspaper wrote on Monday the case has “explosive potential” and has “what it takes to cause a tremor” to a policy which was first laid out in Switzerland’s 1848 and 1874 Federal Constitutions. 

What is Switzerland’s compulsory military service? 

Article 59 of the Federal Constitution of Switzerland says “Every man with Swiss citizenship is liable for military service. Alternative civilian service shall be provided for by law.”

Recruits must generally do 18 weeks of boot camp (longer in some cases). 

They are then required to spend several weeks in the army every year until they have completed a minimum 245 days of service.

Military service is compulsory for Swiss men aged 18 and over. Women can chose to do military service but this is rare.

What about national rather than military service? 

Introduced in 1996, this is an alternative to the army, originally intended for those who objected to military service on moral grounds. 

READ MORE: The Swiss army’s growing problem with civilian service

Service is longer there than in the army, from the age of 20 to 40. 

This must be for 340 days in total, longer than the military service requirement. 

What about foreigners and dual nationals? 

Once you become a Swiss citizen and are between the ages of 18 and 30, you can expect to be conscripted. 

READ MORE: Do naturalised Swiss citizens have to do military service?

In general, having another citizenship in addition to the Swiss one is not going to exempt you from military service in Switzerland.

However, there is one exception: the obligation to serve will be waved, provided you can show that you have fulfilled your military duties in your other home country.

If you are a Swiss (naturalised or not) who lives abroad, you are not required to serve in the military in Switzerland, though you can voluntarily enlist. 

How do Swiss people feel about military and national service? 

Generally, the obligation is viewed relatively positively, both by the general public and by those who take part in compulsory service. 

While several other European countries have gotten rid of mandatory service, a 2013 referendum which attempted to abolish conscription was rejected by 73 percent of Swiss voters. 

What is the court case and what does it say? 

Martin D. Küng, the lawyer from the Swiss canton of Bern who has driven the case through the courts, has a personal interest in its success. 

He was found unfit for service but is still required to pay an annual bill to the Swiss government, which was 1662CHF for the last year he was required to pay it. 

While the 36-year-old no longer has to pay the amount – the obligation only lasts between the ages of 18 and 30 – Küng is bring the case on principle. 

So far, Küng has had little success in the Swiss courts, with his appeal rejected by the cantonal administrative court and later by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. 

Previous Supreme Court cases, when hearing objections to men-only military service, said that women are less suitable for conscription due to “physiological and biological differences”.

In Küng’s case, the judges avoided this justification, saying instead that the matter was a constitutional issue. 

‘No objective reason why only men have to do military service’

He has now appealed the decision to the European level. 

While men have previously tried and failed when taking their case to the Supreme Court, no Swiss man has ever brought the matter to the European Court of Human Rights. 

Küng told the NZZ that he considered the rule to be unjust and said the Supreme Court’s decision is based on political considerations. 

“I would have expected the Federal Supreme Court to have the courage to clearly state the obvious in my case and not to decide on political grounds,” Küng said. 

“There is no objective reason why only men have to do military service or pay replacement taxes. On average, women may not be as physically productive as men, but that is not a criterion for excluding them from compulsory military service. 

There are quite a few men who cannot keep up with women in terms of stamina. Gender is simply the wrong demarcation criterion for deciding on compulsory service. If so, then one would have to focus on physical performance.”

Is it likely to pass? 

Küng is optimistic that the Strasbourg court will find in his favour, pointing to a successful appeal by a German man who complained about a fire brigade tax, which was only imposed on men. 

“This question has not yet been conclusively answered by the court” Küng said. 

The impact of a decision in his favour could be considerable, with European law technically taking precedence over Swiss law.

It would set Switzerland on a collision course with the bloc, particularly given the popularity of the conscription provision. 

Küng clarified that political outcomes and repercussions don’t concern him. 

“My only concern is for a court to determine that the current regulation is legally wrong.”

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