A FRENCHMAN jailed for rape in a scandal that led to the postponement of this year’s Nobel Literature Prize declared his innocence yesterday at the opening of his appeal trial.

Once an influential figure in Stockholm’s cultural scene, 72-year-old Jean-Claude Arnault was found guilty in October of raping a young woman in 2011 and sentenced to two years in prison.

The case was one of the first big trials to come out of the #MeToo movement, and has left the Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Literature Prize, in tatters.

Arnault has insisted the sex was consensual, according to his lawyer. The defense team has asked to call Arnault’s wife Katarina Frostenson, a Swedish Academy member, as a witness.

The scandal erupted in November 2017. At the time, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter published the testimonies of 18 women claiming to have been raped, sexually assaulted or harassed by Arnault.

The Swedish Academy has 18 members and Arnault often referred to himself as its “19th member.” He reportedly occasionally leaked the names of Nobel winners to friends.

His accusers claim the Academy was aware of Arnault’s behavior but ensured that “a culture of silence” reigned in cultural circles.

Discredited and without a quorum to make key decisions, the Academy postponed the announcement of the 2018 Nobel Literature Prize for the first time in 70 years.

(SD-Agencies)