De Niro lawyer says he is suing `narcissistic' vice case judge

Robert De Niro is suing a French investigating magistrate who dispatched vice squad police to fetch him on Tuesday for questioning in connection with a prostitution ring, the American film actor's lawyer said yesterday. Mr Georges Kiejman - who is also the lawyer for the Mohammed al Fayed family - denounced what he called "all this media hype over the simple questioning of a witness". He has initiated legal action against Judge Frederic N'Guyen for allegedly violating De Niro's freedom of movement and for failing to respect the secrecy of the judicial inquiry. Mr Kiejman said he was convinced that Judge N'Guyen, "a judge motivated by strong narcissistic tendencies and a need for publicity", was the source of press leaks about the investigation.

The warrant issued by Judge N'Guyen for De Niro's detention made no sense, Mr Kiejman said, "because I had told [Judge N'Guyen] in a letter the previous day that my client was at his disposition and would talk to him whenever he wished". In the event, police detained De Niro at the Bristol Hotel before taking him to Judge N'Guyen's chambers, where he was questioned for three hours on Tuesday evening. No charges were filed against him.

According to Le Monde, De Niro's name was linked to the case because the photographer Jean-Pierre Bourgeois, considered the chief organiser of the prostitution ring, tried to arrange a sexual encounter between De Niro and a young woman, but the meeting never took place. "It's possible that [detectives] found Robert De Niro's telephone number in connection with the affair being investigated by the judge," Mr Kiejman told a radio station.

"When you meet Robert De Niro and you have the good fortune to obtain his telephone number, you're tempted to write it down," the lawyer continued. "I think the judge was happy to get a little publicity for a lacklustre case by sending the police after Robert De Niro." His client had reacted to the incident "with a shrug of the shoulders" he added. "He has been in films where the situation was more violent. But this doesn't correspond to his idea of France - the country of human rights."