“Why are we still not able to believe women in this country?”, wonders Friday July 1 on franceinfo the deputy Sandrine Rousseau (EELV-Nupes). The elected representative of Paris is surprised that the Minister of Solidarity Damien Abad, accused of rape by three women, has still not been “dismissed” of the government. It calls for the creation of a “independent body” to conduct “quick surveys” and systematically suspending political leaders accused of violence.
Sandrine Rousseau makes a distinction between Damien Abad and Eric Coquerel, subject of rumors about his behavior with women. “It’s still not the same” believes the Green MP. In the case of the Minister of Solidarity, “Three women have filed a complaint. Journalists have corroborated the facts. What I am asking is that there be an investigation and that he be dismissed for the time of this investigation.” Eric Coquerel, he, just elected to the presidency of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, is the subject of “rumors of which we know nothing of anything”, says Sandrine Rousseau.
On Wednesday, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary investigation into a complaint against Damien Abad for an attempted rape dating back to 2010. “In all companies, as soon as there is a testimony, you have an obligation to carry out an investigation, notes Sandrine Rousseau. On the basis of this investigation, you then take the decision to reinstate the person or to sanction him, independently of the justice system. Why wouldn’t the government do it?
The member calls for the creation of a “independent body” on the model of the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life “who can carry out a rapid investigation and say whether to take legal action or if there are not enough elements to continue the prosecution”. “The presumption of innocence does not preclude the precautionary principle”, according to the ecologist and feminist MP. She recalls that under Nicolas Sarkozy, Minister Georges Tron had been “forced to resign from the government” after “two complaints of rape”. Since then, there has been the MeToo movement and, according to Sandrine Rousseau, “France must move on these issues”. She believes in a kind of presumption of sincerity, “believe women first”.
Concerning the LFI deputy Éric Coquerel, who has just been elected head of the National Assembly’s Finance Committee and who is the subject of rumors relayed on RTL by the feminist Rokhaya Diallo who talks about the “behaviour he would have with women” and of “things that have been recurring for several years”Sandrine Rousseau explains that she has not found “no witnesses”. “When we testified in the Baupin case [à partir de 2016], I heard rumors about Éric Coquerel. I searched, I made phone calls, I put several feminists on the spot.”
“We don’t have direct testimony. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
Sandrine Rousseau, MP EELV-Nupesat franceinfo
MP EELV asks these potential victims to “to report” with her, the follow-up committee against sexist and sexual violence of La France insoumise or to file a complaint at a police station. On the other hand, she insists by saying that she does not know the nature of the facts and that she is not asking for the withdrawal of Éric Coquerel, as she is asking for that of Damien Abad. “How do you expect me to comment on the extent of the sanction since I do not know these testimonies? We do not exclude people solely on the basis of rumors of which we know nothing.”