<p>A rape investigation against French actor Gerard Depardieu will be reopened after his accuser refiled her complaint when prosecutors dropped a previous inquiry, sources close to the case told AFP on Wednesday.</p>.<p>The accuser, an actress in her 20s who accuses Depardieu of raping and assaulting her at his Parisian home in August 2018, refiled a complaint after prosecutors dropped the case in June 2019, citing a lack of evidence.</p>.<p>After she reported her allegations against the celebrated actor -- who is 71 and denies any wrongdoing -- prosecutors in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence opened a preliminary investigation which they then passed on to their Paris colleagues.</p>.<p>The Paris probe was dropped after nine months after investigators said they had failed to assemble enough proof to proceed to formal charges.</p>.<p>The actress later refiled her claims, which under French law almost always leads to a case being examined by an investigating magistrate.</p>.<p>A source close to the investigation said Wednesday that the decision had now formally been taken. It was also confirmed by a judicial source.</p>.<p>Depardieu's lawyer, Herve Temime, said he had not been informed of the case's reopening, but called it a "non-event, as it is an automatic decision" that an investigating magistrate be appointed.</p>.<p>Depardieu, a superstar in France thanks to films like "Cyrano de Bergerac," "Jean de Florette" and "Camille Claudel," has also had a successful international career, working among others with Peter Weir in "Green Card" and with Ridley Scott in "1492."</p>.<p>He holds both French and Russian citizenship -- acquiring the latter in 2013 to protest a proposed tax hike on the rich in his homeland.</p>
<p>A rape investigation against French actor Gerard Depardieu will be reopened after his accuser refiled her complaint when prosecutors dropped a previous inquiry, sources close to the case told AFP on Wednesday.</p>.<p>The accuser, an actress in her 20s who accuses Depardieu of raping and assaulting her at his Parisian home in August 2018, refiled a complaint after prosecutors dropped the case in June 2019, citing a lack of evidence.</p>.<p>After she reported her allegations against the celebrated actor -- who is 71 and denies any wrongdoing -- prosecutors in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence opened a preliminary investigation which they then passed on to their Paris colleagues.</p>.<p>The Paris probe was dropped after nine months after investigators said they had failed to assemble enough proof to proceed to formal charges.</p>.<p>The actress later refiled her claims, which under French law almost always leads to a case being examined by an investigating magistrate.</p>.<p>A source close to the investigation said Wednesday that the decision had now formally been taken. It was also confirmed by a judicial source.</p>.<p>Depardieu's lawyer, Herve Temime, said he had not been informed of the case's reopening, but called it a "non-event, as it is an automatic decision" that an investigating magistrate be appointed.</p>.<p>Depardieu, a superstar in France thanks to films like "Cyrano de Bergerac," "Jean de Florette" and "Camille Claudel," has also had a successful international career, working among others with Peter Weir in "Green Card" and with Ridley Scott in "1492."</p>.<p>He holds both French and Russian citizenship -- acquiring the latter in 2013 to protest a proposed tax hike on the rich in his homeland.</p>