France requests removal of immunity for Lebanese envoy accused of rape
Lebanon's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it will send investigators to 'question the ambassador concerned and gather testimony from embassy staff' in Paris
As part of an investigation into Lebanon's Ambassador to France, Rami Adwan, authorities in Paris requested to have his immunity lifted.
In response, Beirut announced that it would send a team of investigators to the French capital.
According to a statement from the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, the country will send investigators to "question the ambassador concerned and gather testimony from embassy staff" regarding the accusations of rape and intentional violence.
The investigation was launched following complaints by two former embassy employees, first revealed by Mediapart. The first woman, aged 31, accused Adwan in June 2022 of what she claimed was a rape committed in 2020 at the ambassador’s private apartment. The two had an intimate relationship, but she later accused him of abusing and humiliating her.
The second woman, aged 28, lodged a complaint last February, accusing him of physical assault after her refusal to have sex. She claimed that Adwan tried to hit her with his car during an argument on the sidelines of the Peace Forum in Caen, western France, in September. Additionally, she accused the ambassador of having tried to asphyxiate her by pushing her face into his bed in December.
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The diplomat, who has been based in Paris since 2017, denies these accusations in their entirety while his lawyer refers to "romantic relationships" that were "punctuated by arguments and breakups."
"My client denies all accusations of aggression in any form whatsoever: verbal, moral, sexual. He had romantic relationships with these two women between 2018 and 2022, marked by arguments and break-ups," said lawyer Karim Beylouni.