- The deputy of the ecofeminist current Sandrine Rousseau has made the alleged facts public.

The leader of the French environmentalists resigns after being accused of psychological violence against his ex

Deputy Julien Bayou, 42, announced on Monday his resignation as leader of the French Greens due to accusations of psychological violence made by his ex-partner and regretted that he was not given the opportunity to defend himself.

"They accuse me of facts that they do not present to me and that my accusers say are not criminally reprehensible and against which I cannot even defend myself because they refuse to listen to me," said Bayou, whom several high-ranking party officials had pressured to leave the address.

The accusation against Bayou was made public not by the ex-partner of the leader, but by a party colleague, the deputy of the ecofeminist current Sandrine Rousseau. Rousseau claimed to have talked at length with Bayou's former girlfriend and from there he drew conclusions about Bayou's behavior that he believed were incorrect.

"There are behaviors that are likely to harm the mental health of women," Rosseau denounced on a television channel, without further details about what Bayou did.

Meanwhile, the interested party had withdrawn from the co-presidency of his group in the National Assembly -where the Greens occupy 23 of the 577 seats-, although not from his mandate as a deputy.

Second controversy

This case of alleged sexist violence joins that of Adrien Quatennens, until recently number two of the main leftist force, Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La Francia Insumisa (LFI). In the case of Quatennens -different from that of Bayou-, the politician himself acknowledged having slapped his wife a year ago, from whom he is in the process of separating. The young deputy resigned his position in the LFI, but not his seat in the Assembly.

The way in which Mélenchon reacted to this scandal created unease, both in his own party and in his left-wing partners (NUPES), as the veteran leader's attitude was seen as too lenient with Quatennens.

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