A minister appointed by Emmanuel Macron has been accused of raping 2 women in France

Damien Abad, a minister recently appointed by French President Emmanuel Macron, was fired this weekend after the two women accused him of raping them. The French government said it would keep him in office, but made sure he had “zero tolerance” for sex offenders.

The accusations against Abad, who was appointed Minister of Solidarity and Persons with Disabilities, stemmed from stages that occurred in 2010 and 2011. The woman made the accusation in 2011 he had already denounced him in the incident in 2012 and 2017but in both instances, the process did not proceed.

“I vehemently reject these accusations,” which “refers to those acts or deeds deliberately impossible for me because of my disability“Abad told AFP, who suffers from arthrogryposis, a rare disease that blocks his joints and reduces his mobility.

The accusations against the new minister also question how committed Macron is in fighting sexist violence, especially in 2020 when he appointed Gérald Darmanin as Interior Minister, despite the fact that at the time he was facing in the complaint for rape.

“Justice is the only one that can and should decide,” government spokeswoman Olivia Grégoire stressed when asked at a press conference after the first Council of Ministers about whether Abad will remain in office.

On Saturday the information portal Médiapart published the testimonies of two women who accused him of rape, and also that a the feminist association warned the president’s party of those facts.

However, Grégoire points out that, according to the elements he has, “no member of the government knows” before appointing Abad as head of the Solidarity portfolio.

The two women accuse Damien Abad

The first violation for which he was accused began in 2010. According to Mediapart, the politician suggested a glass of champagne at a bar in Paris to the alleged victim, who is currently 41 years old and who says he may have been “drugged”.

“And later, black out total, until the next morning “, testimony of this woman, who said she woke up next to him” in a hotel room near the bar “,” in her underwear “, in”deep state of shock and disgust“.

Another woman accused him of raping her in early 2011. Abad, whom he met two years ago, had sexual relations with her one night, first consensual and then coerced, marked “by disrespect, necessity and insistence ”.

The latter went to a police station in 2012 and reported for “rape” in 2017. Both complaints were archived: the former was due to the complainant’s inaction, who did not proceed with the process, and the second for failing to provide all elements of the crime, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

Source: AFP