Damien Abad's position was now untenable. He was no longer the Minister of Solidarity, but he was reappointed to his government post. Jean-Christophe Combe, the Red Cross boss, has replaced him.
Why? Macron appointed the ex-boss de Les Republicains deputies to the Assembly in May 2022. He has been accused of rape and is currently under investigation. After a complaint by a woman about alleged facts that took place at a 2010 party, the Paris prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into attempted rape.
Mediapart published the testimony of the woman who filed a complaint Monday, June 27, under the pseudonym of "Laetitia". According to the investigative website, she is an "elected centralist" who was at the time of her denunciation, president of a Federation of the New Center youth movement. Damien Abad was then MEP.
The minister denied the allegations and said he would file a complaint for slanderous denunciation after the announcement of the investigation's opening. According to the Paris prosecutor's Office, the investigations were entrusted the brigade to the repression delinquency of the person (BRDP), as AFP was questioned.
She is the third accusation of sexual violence against the minister. Margaux (first named changed) was the third woman to file a complaint against the minister of sexual violence. The first time she filed a complaint, it was in 2012 and again in 2017. She was dismissed for "lacking of the complainant" and "lacking'sufficiently severe offence".
Chloe (first named changed), the other, denounced facts that allegedly occurred during a party held in the fall of 2010. A report was made by the Observatory of Sexist and Sexual Violence. However, the Paris public prosecutor had indicated at May end that they would not open an investigation because there was no "element making possible to identify the victim of these facts." In fact, his testimony was transmitted anonymously to the justice.
Elisabeth Borne had appointed Damien Abad minister. He was comfortably re-elected as deputy for Ain on June 19. Recent times have seen a rise in calls for resignation from the opposition and feminist organizations. In a column published in "Le Monde", 200 women (elected officials, journalists, feminists and artists) asked for this change on June 20.
