The Paris prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday that it was not opening a preliminary investigation “as it stands” into the accusations of sexual violence against the new Minister of Solidarity Damien Abad, for lack of “element allowing the identification of the victim of the facts denounced”.
“As it stands, the Paris prosecutor’s office does not respond to mail from the Observatory of Sexist and Sexual Violence”, an association created in February in the wake of the MeToo movement.
He sent him the testimony of a woman accusing Mr. Abad of rape, but the prosecutor’s office refused to open “lack of information allowing the identification of the victim of the facts denounced and, therefore, lack of possibility of carrying out his detailed hearing”.
This decision is part of the criminal policy implemented for several years by the Paris public prosecutor’s office with regard to sexual violence: an investigation is systematically opened as soon as a victim who is a minor at the time of the facts is mentioned, and even in absence of complaint, in particular in order to check whether there are no others.
But if the facts concern adults, this prosecution reserves the right to open an investigation only if a complaint is filed.
The Paris prosecutor’s office very rarely communicates to justify its choice not to open an investigation.
The Observatory of gender-based and sexual violence in politics was “strongly” surprised on Twitter by this response. According to this non-governmental organization, “however, it is common for preliminary investigations to be initiated on the basis of anonymous testimonies”.
The day after the appointment of the government of Elisabeth Borne, Mediapart broadcast the testimonies of two women accusing the new Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and People with Disabilities of having raped them in 2010 and 2011.
At the heart of the Observatory’s recent report, the facts denounced by Chloé (first name changed), aged 41, which allegedly took place during a party in the fall of 2010.
According to the Observatory, which quotes her, Chloé does not feel “capable of surviving a legal whirlwind intended to clear (s) her rapist. Nor to be thrown into the pack who will question, dissect, mock (s) we attack”.
The second woman who testified to Mediapart, Margaux, went to a police station to testify in 2012, then filed a complaint in 2017. She confirmed her story to AFP.
The prosecution had indicated on Sunday that a first complaint filed for rape had indeed been “dismissed” in April 2012 “due to the complainant’s failure”, as well as a second “for the same facts in December 2017 fault ” sufficiently serious offence”.
Since the articles appeared, Damien Abad has dismissed the charges.
“I have never raped a single woman in my life,” he defended himself on Monday.
The rare congenital neuromuscular disease from which he suffers, arthrogryposis, makes the facts of which he is accused impossible, said the man who was until recently the boss of the LR deputies.
Two and a half weeks before the legislative elections, Emmanuel Macron is put in difficulty by revelations of sexual violence concerning his political entourage. Jérome Peyrat, majority candidate for the legislative elections who had been convicted of domestic violence, had to withdraw on May 18.
Calls for the resignation of Damien Abad, the main takeover on the right of the post-presidential Macronie, have multiplied in recent days, in the ranks of the opposition and feminist associations.
The latter notably demonstrated on Tuesday in Paris to denounce “a government of shame”, at the call of the Observatory.
“Should an innocent man resign? I don’t think so,” Damien Abad said.
“Justice is the only one who must or can decide,” said the new government spokeswoman, Olivia Grégoire, on Monday.
Since the publication of the Mediapart article on Saturday, several anonymous testimonies from members of LR have also reported “heavy”, even “inappropriate” behavior of the new minister, supposedly well known to his political entourage.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, for her part, assured that she “was not aware” of these affairs when her government was composed.
25/05/2022 18:07:24 – Paris (AFP) – © 2022 AFP
