French prosecutors are investigating allegations of rape against a member of Macron's government. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou has already been charged twice. The allegations come from the time when the 46-year-old was still practicing as a gynaecologist.
French prosecutors are investigating a member of the government for rape allegations. The State Secretary for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, has been accused of two counts of rape, the public prosecutor said. According to the French magazine "Marianne", the allegations against the 46-year-old come from her time as a gynaecologist.
According to the public prosecutor's office, one complaint was filed on May 25th, and the second followed on June 16th. In both cases, the attacks are said to have occurred during treatment. The Foreign Ministry, to which the State Secretary reports, has not yet responded to the AFP news agency's request for a statement.
Zacharopoulou has only been a member of the French government since May, before that she was a member of the European Parliament for three years. During this time she was involved in the Committee for Women's Rights, among other things. Born in Greece, she made a name for herself with her commitment to the global corona vaccination initiative Covax and her awareness campaign on endometriosis, one of the most common abdominal diseases in women.
These are not the first allegations of rape against representatives of Macron's government. The public prosecutor's office investigated Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin because of a rape allegation from 2017. In the meantime, however, the public prosecutor's office has requested that the investigation be dropped. There were also allegations of rape against Solidarity Minister Damien Abad last month, but prosecutors have said they are not investigating at this time. Both ministers deny any wrongdoing.
The recent allegations put additional pressure on Macron. His electoral alliance lost the absolute majority in the parliamentary elections last Sunday, and he has been on the difficult search for partners ever since.
