PARIS (Reuters) – Damien Abad, France’s newly appointed minister for Solidarity and the Disabled, again strongly denied on Monday he had raped two women, adding he had no intention to resign from the government.
“Should an innocent man resign? I don’t think so”, Abad told journalists.
On Sunday, Abad put out the same denial, following accusations published by the Mediapart website in an article based on interviews with the women.
The women quoted by Mediapart on Saturday said Abad had forced them to have unwanted sexual relationships with him. The actions happened in late 2010 and early 2011, they said.
One of the women filed a complaint to the police against Abad in 2017 which was closed without further action, Abad and Mediapart said.
Abad joined the government formed on Friday after President Emmanuel Macron’s re-election.
Asked to comment on the accusations against Abad, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said she was not aware of them when he joined the government.
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Grant McCool)
