A Paris court said on Thursday it would press ahead with an investigation into Gerard Depardieu, one of the country's most famous actors whom an actress has accused of rape.
Prosecutors in 2019 dropped the investigation, citing insufficient evidence, only to pick it up again later that year after a new complaint was made to police.
In December 2021, French actress Charlotte Arnould revealed on social media that she was the woman behind the accusation, saying that she could not bear to remain silent any longer.
The Paris appeal court said on Thursday it had rejected Depardieu's request to drop the investigation.
"The chamber considers that there are, at this stage, serious and consistent signs justifying that Gerard Depardieu remain under investigation," it said.
The actor, through his lawyer, has previously "firmly rejected" the accusation.
Thursday's decision on whether or not to end the investigation did not touch on the issue of Depardieu's criminal liability. He has not yet been indicted.
Depardieu has starred in scores of French-language movies, rising to prominence in 1974 with "Going Places", and gained international recognition with a starring role in the 1990 English-language comedy "Green Card". He won a Golden Globe best actor award for that role.
His performance in the French-language "Cyrano de Bergerac" the same year won him the award for best male performance at the Cannes film festival, and a nomination in the best leading actor category at the 1990 Academy Awards.
In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Depardieu Russian citizenship. The actor received his new passport in person from Putin at the Russian leader's residence on the Black Sea coast.
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Nick Macfie)
