PARIS: French publisher Gallimard said on Tuesday it was halting the sale of books by a writer accused of raping children.

France’s most prestigious publishing house said it was the first time in its 140-year history that it had taken such a radical step.

Award-winning essayist Gabriel Matzneff is under investigation after a leading French editor detailed in print how he seduced her when she was 14.

Gallimard said they were recalling all the journals the 83-year-old had written under its imprint since 1990. The last, “The Lover at the Arsenal”, came out in November.

La Table Ronde later said it was pulling five Matzneff’s works it published from sale.

Amazon has also reportedly withdrawn the Kindle version of one Matzneff’s most notorious works, “Les Moins de Seize Ans” (The Under 16s), after sales exploded online after the scandal broke.

The dramatic moves come a day after French culture minister Franck Riester said the writer should lose a special state pension. Riester told reporters that Matzneff could also be stripped of his two major state honours as officer of Arts and Letters and knight of the Order of National Merit.

The weekly magazine Le Point had also dropped him as a columnist.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2020