CNN
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Two flight attendants claim they were sexually assaulted by then-Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri aboard his private plane, according to a complaint filed in federal court in New York.
The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court on March 20 against Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri and five co-defendants.
The plaintiffs, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, allege against Hariri the “brutal workplace rape” of Doe 2 according to court documents, as well as “multiple instances of false imprisonment, sexual assault and sexual harassment”. of the two applicants. »
The incidents allegedly occurred from 2006 to 2009 aboard a Saudi Oger plane, a company owned by Hariri, according to court documents.
Both plaintiffs worked for Saudi Oger, according to the lawsuit. Doe 1 quit her job in 2009 and Doe 2 was fired, according to court documents.
The lawsuit also alleges that the former prime minister subjected the two plaintiffs “to an atmosphere steeped in inappropriate sexual touching, coercion, harassment and demands for sexual favours”.
“Defendant S. HARIRI abused his position of authority in the airline for his own sexual gratification while repeatedly victimizing both complainants,” the documents add.
Hariri’s press office denied the charges in a statement to CNN on Saturday, saying the trial was “full of completely false and unacceptable accusations, aimed at provocation and slander against Prime Minister Hariri.”
The statement also claims that this is the third time the two plaintiffs have tried to sue Hariri in New York, saying “this is nothing but a smear campaign orchestrated by two women looking for a financial gain”. The statement adds that “there is no truth to these baseless allegations”.
CNN has contacted the plaintiff’s attorney but has not yet received a response.
The lawsuit was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act and seeks unspecified damages.
Hariri previously served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2016 to 2020.
Cnn
