Rape quiz for female Macron minister
Allegations a fresh blow to crisis-hit French president
A FEMALE minister in Emmanuel Macron’s new French government is under investigation for rape, it emerged yesterday.
Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, the 46year-old secretary of state for development, is the subject of two complaints from a woman who cannot be named for legal reasons.
It follows a series of sex scandals in Macron’s administration – ones which have led to accusations that the head of state is too relaxed about criminal accusations.
A source at the Paris public prosecutor’s office yesterday told the Marianne news outlet that the case related to Miss Zacharopoulou’s time as a gynaecologist.
‘An inquiry has been opened into two alleged acts of rape which were allegedly committed in the suspect’s medical duties,’ said the source.
French law defines rape as any act of sexual penetration committed on others ‘ by violence, coercion, threat or surprise’. The first complaint was filed on May 25, and the investigation was opened two days later ‘to determine whether the facts are likely to fall within the scope of criminality’.
Examining magistrates are working on the inquiry with a specialist police unit, meaning
Miss Zacharopoulou has already been interviewed at length. The Greek-born former MEP joined the French government on May 20, before last Sunday’s disastrous election results which saw Mr Macron lose his parliamentary majority. Like new prime minister Elisabeth Borne, Miss Zacharopoulou is considered to be one of the most powerful female politicians in Mr Macron’s government.
Despite the accusations, she has kept her role in the government. There was no initial comment about the allegations from Miss Zacharopoulou. Damien Abad, 42, France’s minister for solidarity and disabled people, also faces accusations of rape from two women, in late 2010 and early 2011.
One of the accusers filed two complaints with police in 2012 and 2017, but they were later closed with no action taken.
Mr Abad strongly denies the allegations, saying that his arthrogryposis, a condition that affects the limbs, would make it physically impossible for him to rape anyone.
Mr Macron has said there was no reason to sack him because of unproven allegations.
In July 2020, Mr Macron expressed his wish to act as ‘guarantor of the presumption of innocence’ and ‘not give in to emotion’, when he refused to dismiss his minister of the interior, Gerald Darmanin, despite a rape accusation against him. The case was later closed without any further action.
Nicolas Hulot, Mr Macron’s former minister for energy transition, was implicated in a sexual violence case in 2018, but the head of state did not sack him. This led to criticism from former women’s rights minister Laurence Rossignol, who said: ‘Emmanuel Macron has not understood that we cannot treat accusations of sexual violence, saying “It does not exist, move along, there is nothing to see, I will stand my ground.”’
‘An inquiry has been opened’