French minister investigated over rape charges
Prosecutors launch a formal inquiry against French cabinet minister Damien Abad who is under fire.
Prosecutors said on Wednesday that they launched a formal inquiry against under-fire French cabinet minister Damien Abad after he was accused of rape in 2010.
The woman is thought to be the former leader of the Nouveau Centre (New Centrist) party's youth section, who told the Mediapart website earlier this month that Abad assaulted her.
The Minister of Solidarity and Social Cohesion, who joined President Emmanuel Macron's administration last month, has been accused of sexual assault by three different women.
Abad, who has arthrogryposis, a rare joint disorder, disputes the charges and has promised to fight the lady behind the Mediapart report, who was not identified by the news organization.
Allegations leveled against the 42-year-old in the run-up to the June legislative elections were viewed as one of the numerous factors that contributed to Macron's MPs losing their majority.
On June 6, a schoolgirl in southern France questioned the President, asking why he "put men at the head of state who are accused of rape and violence against women."
Abad, who was elected as the first disabled MP in 2012, has already stated that he will not quit, saying, "Should an innocent man resign? I don't think so."
In this month's election, he was comfortably re-elected from his constituency in the Ain region of eastern France.
One of Abad's accusers claims she blacked out after taking a glass of champagne and awoke in pain in a hotel room with Abad.
Prosecutors also investigated Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin in 2017 following a rape accusation.
He denied any involvement, and prosecutors requested for the case to be abandoned in January.
Prosecutors in France announced Wednesday that they are investigating a junior minister in President Emmanuel Macron's administration after two rape claims were made against her.
According to the French magazine Marianne, the rape claims date back to when Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, now state secretary for development, Francophonie, and international partnerships, was still a gynecologist.
Read more: French police apologize to woman who yelled at Macron over rape issues
These are not the first rape charges to hang over Macron's government, and they come at a time when the President is facing electoral difficulties after failing to keep a majority in legislative elections.