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French restauranteur charged over botulism death

A French restaurant boss was on Wednesday charged over one death among multiple cases of botulism earlier this year tied to improperly preserved sardines at the establishment, prosecutors said.

French restauranteur charged over botulism death
A police vehicle in Lorient, western France. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)

A 32-year-old Greek woman died in September after eating at the Tchin Tchin Wine Bar in central Bordeaux.

She was one of 16 mostly foreign diners who fell ill in the space of a week while the southwestern city was hosting Rugby World Cup matches.

“Various infringements of the hygiene regulations by the establishment’s manager” were identified, “especially relating to home made preserves,” senior prosecutor Frederique Porterie said in a statement.

The restaurant chief was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged on Wednesday with involuntary homicide and wounding, endangering the lives of others, failing to assist a person in danger and selling contaminated or toxic food.

While released from custody, he will be subject to police monitoring and barred from any work relating to food service ahead of the trial.

If convicted, the man could face two to five years in prison and a fine of up to €600,000.

Botulism is a rare, serious neurological condition that is fatal in between five and 10 percent of cases.

It stems from a powerful toxin, produced by a bacteria that can live in poorly-preserved food that has been improperly sterilised.

The disease can interfere with vision, prevent sufferers from swallowing or in advanced cases paralyse muscles, especially respiratory muscles, which can be fatal.

Around 25 people were exposed to the contaminated sardines served at the wine bar, an investigation by French health authorities and police found.

A further investigation is underway into the affected people’s medical treatment, prosecutors said.

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CRIME

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The head of France's top cinema institution Dominique Boutonnat denied sexually assaulting his godson as he went on trial Friday in a case that has led to calls for him to step down.

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The trial comes as French cinema reels from a renewed #MeToo reckoning that has seen several big names, including acting legend Gerard Depardieu, accused of sexual abuse.

READ ALSO: French actor Gérard Depardieu to be tried for sexual assault in October

Activists have denounced Boutonnat’s continued leadership of the National Centre of Cinema (CNC), whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry.

His godson accuses him of trying to masturbate him during a holiday in Greece in 2020 when he was 19.

“I looked at him to find my godfather and that’s when I saw someone completely different… It was someone using me to masturbate,” the godson, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court.

Boutonnat responded in court that it was his godson who had initiated the situation and kissed him.

“I feel bad about leaving an ambiguous situation, but to say there was a sexual assault is false,” he told the court.

He was placed under investigation in February 2021 but still reappointed by the government as head of the CNC in July 2022.

Training to prevent abuse has in recent months become obligatory for films seeking public funding via the CNC.

The CNC told AFP that the case against Boutonnat came from “the private sphere” and had no relation to its activities.

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