Justice had requested the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of Damien Abad, deputy of Ain. The main interested party had said himself "in favor". The office of the National Assembly took the decision, unanimously, to lift this immunity, Wednesday, May 24, which protects parliamentarians from any coercive measure, but not from indictments.
The former member of the Republicans is accused of several rapes and can therefore now be placed in police custody, among other things. "I want to be heard by the courts like any other citizen, under any regime whatsoever," said the deputy and former minister. "From the opening of the preliminary investigation, I have always said that I was at the disposal of justice in order to be able to answer the questions of the investigators and thus confirm my innocence in the face of the despicable slanders of which I am the target. »
"The position of our group is constant: parliamentary immunity must be systematically lifted when the facts do not concern our parliamentary work", indicated Aurore Bergé, the patron saint of the Renaissance deputies, at the end of the meeting of the bureau of the Assembly, during which there was no debate. "So we were obviously in favor of lifting Damien Abad's immunity," she added.
Damien Abad was appointed in May 2022 Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and People with Disabilities. The day after his appointment, Mediapart relayed accusations of rape against him, dating from 2010 and 2011. The complaints were closed in 2012 and then 2017.
The former leader of the LR deputies, re-elected deputy for a third term, left the government in early July. The "conditions of serenity" were "no longer present", explained Olivier Véran, spokesperson for the government.
