Barely took office, it is a first storm which the new Borne government has to face. According to a survey published by Mediapart Saturday, May 21, a report for alleged acts of rape dating back to 2010 and 2011, concerning the ex-boss of the deputies Les Républicains (LR) and new Minister for Solidarity, Autonomy and Disabled People, Damien Abad, has was sent by email to the parties La République en Marche (LRM) and LR by the Observatory of sexist and sexual violence in politics between May 16 and 20. This report is based on the testimonies of two women.
It is following the receipt of the testimony of « Chloé » (the first name has been changed at his request), on May 13, that the Observatory transmitted, at his request, his report to the management of LR and LRM. This woman, now 41, describes the rape she says she suffered in 2010 and mentions the existence of a rape complaint filed by another woman against Mr. Abad – filed in 2017 and closed without action .
Information confirmed and clarified by the organization created in February by initiators of the #MeTooPolitique collective (Fiona Texeire, Mathilde Viot and Alice Coffin), this Sunday at Franceinfo: “We sent the report by email to Stanislas Guerini, Christophe Castaner, Bérangère Couillard [pour LRM] and Aurélien Pradié [pour LR] »as of May 16, followed by a follow-up “19 for LRM and 20 for LR”. The organization also sent a letter to the public prosecutor, which the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed to Agence France Presse. The report, adds the prosecution, “ is being analyzed ».
Terminal “obviously not aware”
On the side of the parties, neither LRM nor LR reacted to the report sent by the Observatory. The president of the LRM deputies in the National Assembly, Christophe Castaner, affirms to Mediapart that he has ” received nothing “ but having informed the prosecution following questions from the news site. He “advise” moreover “the victim to file a complaint immediately”. Stanislas Guerini, the general delegate of the party just appointed minister, assures for his part that he has read the email from the Observatory of sexist and sexual violence in politics on Saturday morning, after being questioned by Mediapart.
At Les Républicains, the secretary general of the party, Aurélien Pradié, told him that he did not have “consulted the mailbox on which this alert was sent to him”. He nevertheless claims to have confronted Damien Abad in 2020, following testimonies “inappropriate behavior he would have had with collaborators”, an episode confirmed by Mr. Abad himself.
As for the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, questioned on the sidelines of a trip to her campaign for the legislative elections in Calvados, she affirmed on Sunday morning that she had ” Of course ” not been ” aware “.
Ms. Borne assured “having discovered the Médiapart article yesterday (Saturday)”and argues: “I will be very clear, on all these subjects of harassment, sexual assault, there can be no impunity”. “I have no more elements than the fact that the case has been closed without further action” she added, assuring that “ if there are new elements, if justice is again seized, we will draw all the consequences of this decision. »
Two complaints dismissed
In her letter, “Chloé” testifies to having found Damien Abad in a restaurant and a Parisian bar one evening in 2010, after having met him at the wedding of friends in common a few months earlier and maintained exchanges by message to distance. “He offers champagne, I drank a glass. And there, blackout, until the next morning. It had never happened to me, especially not after a single drink,” she says, recounting waking up the next morning “in a hotel room near the bar” with Damien Abad, “in underwear” , “in a state of shock and deep disgust” fearing to have been ” drugged “.
Another woman also filed a complaint for « viol » in 2017 against the deputy of Ain for facts dating back to 2011. After several months of exchanges by messages with the elected official, Margaux, who testified to Mediapart, claims to have had a sexual relationship with Mr. Abad footprint “disrespect, injunction and insistence”, then having undergone an imposed anal penetration, despite a refusal pronounced in such a way ” affirmed “ et ” Many times “. She also accuses the former leader of the LR deputies of having “demanded a blowjob”.
The Paris prosecutor’s office clarified on Sunday “that a first complaint filed for acts of rape was dismissed on April 6, 2012 due to the complainant’s failure to act” and that one “Second complaint filed by the same complainant for the same facts was dismissed on December 5, 2017, after a preliminary investigation, for lack of a sufficiently serious offense”.
Damien Abad disputes the accusations
In a written response to Mediapart, Damien Abad disputes the accusations of the two women and “says forcefully than sex than[il a] may have always been based on the principle of mutual consent.. The Minister assures that he does not have “obviously never drugged anyone” in “never accompanied by a woman without her consent”.
With regard to the complaint of which he was the subject, Mr. Abad argues with Mediapart that it is to him “physically impossible to commit the acts described” because of his disability – he has arthrogryposis, a condition that locks his joints and reduces his mobility. During the investigation, the chosen one described a relationship “consented”ensuring that there had been no “no violence, no aggressiveness, no moral constraint whatsoever”and granting only possible “requests for [sa] part » during intercourse, but without “at no time of physical or moral constraint”.
Arguments put forward again by Mr. Abad in a press release made public on Sunday: I strongly contest these accusations of sexual violence. I deny having exercised any form of coercion on any woman. Finally, I contest any abuse of power related to the functions I have held.
He adds “As for the reported remarks which insinuate that I could have drugged then transported, undressed and raped an unconscious woman, they are simply inconceivable and despicable. » The new minister thus argues: “I will not let myself be destabilized and my priorities are clear. I will devote all my energy to fulfilling the mission entrusted to me with our compatriots, serving the most vulnerables ».