Two members of an elite French police unit have been charged (1) with raping a Canadian tourist at their Paris headquarters, reports The Guardian.
France's interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said in a statement that the two officers would "face the full consequences" if they were found guilty.
Four police officers were taken into custody after the 34-year-old woman filed a complaint saying she had been raped in the police headquarters overnight on Tuesday.
Two members of the elite BRI unit that fights gang crime were charged overnight on Sunday, a source close to the investigation said, after the other two officers were released on Saturday.
According to judicial sources, the woman met the officers during a night of heavy drinking at an Irish pub frequented by police from the headquarters, which is widely known by its address: 36 Quai des Orfevres.
They said she agreed to follow them to their workplace, which lies just across the Seine from the pub in the Saint-Michel district, which is popular among tourists.
She registered a criminal complaint soon after the alleged assault. Initial medical exams were carried out and DNA samples were taken but the results were not yet known.
One police officer has admitted to having consensual sex with her but denied rape. A judicial investigation has been launched. The accused were also facing investigation into tampering with the scene of a crime.
Read more of this AFP report published by The Guardian.
1. Editor's note: Under a change to the French legal system introduced in 1993, a magistrate can decide a suspect should be 'placed under investigation' (mise en examen), which is a status one step short of being charged (inculpé), if there is 'serious or concordant' evidence that they committed a crime. Some foreign media describe this status, peculiar to French criminal law, as that of being charged. In fact, it is only at the end of an investigation that a decision can be made to bring charges, in which case the accused is automatically sent for trial.