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Lebanon is still awaiting the arrival of the Lebanese ambassador to France Ramy Adwan, after he was recalled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following complaints of rape and verbal and physical abuse lodged against him in Paris by two former employees of the Lebanese embassy.
Lebanon is also awaiting the transfer of his judicial file from Paris, via the French Embassy in Lebanon. “By issuing such a request – that of requesting the judicial file – Lebanon will have implicitly refused to lift the diplomat’s immunity for political considerations,” a judicial source explains.
From this observation, multiple scenarios present themselves. Administrative procedures indicate that the embassy would normally have to send the file to the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which may or may not pass it on to the Ministry of Justice.
If the file is not submitted to the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will have decided to conduct its own administrative inquiry. A “futile” investigation, as the aforementioned source describes it.
If, on the other hand, the file is submitted to the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation Ghassan Oueidate will have to study the case and draw up his conclusions. In light of his report, Lebanon will decide whether or not to prosecute Adwan in Beirut. The same source expresses a certain skepticism. “We can expect the case to be closed,” they note.
It is of importance to note that the criminal nature of the charges against Adwan is yet to be determined. According to some legal experts, it cannot yet be characterized as a “crime,” since it cannot be rape in the context of a pre-established relationship, and therefore of consent between the two parties.
In this context, it should be remembered that the two plaintiffs (the former employees) have admitted to having had amorous relationships with the ambassador.
In June 2022, while in an intimate relationship with her superior, the first woman, aged 31, lodged a complaint with the French police. She claimed to have been the victim of rape and “psychological and physical violence with daily humiliations.”
In February 2023, the second woman, aged 28, who also had a close relationship with the diplomat, reported “physical assaults.” Adwan disputed these accusations, as his lawyer, Karim Beylouni, told AFP.
A commission appointed by the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to oversee the ambassador’s case visited Paris on Tuesday. The commission is headed by the ministry’s Secretary General Hani Chmaytelli and the director of the investigations department Hadi Hachem. The commission’s mission was to record testimonies of several embassy officials and meet with the French authorities in order to compile a file.
