Reporting –
Abad, 42, “strongly” denied the claims made by the two women. According to “Mediapart”, both the “Republique en Marche” party and the Republicans, as well as the public prosecutor’s office, received “a report from the Observatory for Sexist and Sexual Violence” a few days before Abad was appointed Minister. an entity created by groups of feminists at the origin of the #meTooPolitique movement.
The defence –
For his part, Abad “denies having exercised any form of coercion on a woman. Context – he continues in a press release – of any abuse of power related to the roles I hold. The sexual relationships I may have had throughout my life have always been consensual”. Because of this, he explains, “the sexual act can only take place with the help and goodwill of my partner.”
The reproach –
One of the two accusers, 41, recounts facts dating back to an evening in 2010 when Abad allegedly offered her a glass of champagne in a bar. The woman claims she had a “total blackout” at the time and woke up “the next morning in a hotel room near the bar” in “intimate clothing” and in “a profound state of shock and nausea.” The other woman, a 35-year-old former centrist militant, says she met him in Paris in early 2011 after meeting and “texting” Abad in 2009. They would have had a sexual relationship that was initially consensual but later was not. At that point, acts of “disrespect, omission and persistence” would have stepped in.
The appointment in the government –
Abad, former president of the Republican faction in the National Assembly, has been appointed minister in Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s government in recent days. In 2012, Abad became the first disabled politician to be elected to the Assemblee Nationale.
“No impunity for sexual violence” –
When asked, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said she discovered the existence of these allegations on Mediapart: “I can assure you that we would take all the consequences if there were new elements, if justice was invested in the case again.” Added to sexual violence he added: “There is no impunity”.