PARIS, (Reuters) – French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand yesterday rejected calls for his resignation for having written about paying boys for sex in Thailand, saying his partners had been consenting adults.
The revelations were made in a 2005 book by Mitterrand, “The Bad Life”. They re-surfaced after Mitterrand strongly defended film-maker Roman Polanski, who was arrested in Switzerland last month and faces extradition to the United States for having had sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
Mitterrand described the book as “not totally autobiographical” in a television interview yesterday and was evasive about the precise nature of his experiences in Thailand.
“A mistake, certainly, a crime, no … because each time I was with people of my own age and who consented,” Mitterrand said, adding that he had no intention to resign.
“In no way is it an apology of sex tourism … even if one of the chapters is a journey through that hell, with the fascination that hell can provoke,” said Mitterrand. Throughout the TF1 interview, he referred to his partners as “boys”.
Politicians from all parties have criticised Mitterrand for his attack on the United States, which he said had shown a “frightening” face by pursuing Polanski after so long. The far-right National Front party has called for him to step down.
