France seeks to lift immunity of Lebanon envoy amid claims of rape

Officials from the Lebanese Foreign Ministry have been sent to France to investigate allegations of rape and violence against the country’s envoy to Paris.

This comes after France asked Beirut to lift 47-year-old Ambassador Rami Adwan’s diplomatic immunity.  Adwan has been Lebanon’s ambassador to France since 2017.

Two women have accused him of rape and violence dating back to 2020. For his part, Adwan has said all sexual relations were consensual and the claims “make no sense”.

The first complainant, 31, filed the complaint in June 2022, accusing Adwan of raping her in his private apartment in Paris May 2020. According to the complaint, she had a relationship with the ambassador, who carried out “psychological and physical violence with daily humiliations.”

The second woman, aged 28, made a complaint last February after what she said was a series of physical attacks after she turned down sexual relations. She says Adwan tried to hit her with his car after an argument on the sidelines of last year’s Normandy World Peace Forum.

“In view of the seriousness of the facts mentioned, we consider it necessary for the Lebanese authorities to lift the immunity of the Lebanese ambassador in Paris in order to facilitate the work of the French judicial authorities,” the French Foreign Ministry told AFP on Friday.

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