Romanian Foreign Ministry summons Iraqi Amb. after consul’s sexual assault scandal

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Foreign Ministry of Romania has urgently summoned Iraq’s Ambassador in Bucharest after the recent accusations by female employees at the embassy accusing the Iraqi consul of repeated sexual assaults.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that an employee at the Embassy of Iraq in Bucharest reported a number of sexual harassment incidents committed by the country’s consul, Romanian Libertatea Newspaper reported on Thursday.

“After receiving the memo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urgently summoned the Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to Romania. Regarding this, it was emphasized that any act of harassment is in total contradiction with the ethical norms and values of the European society in general, and of the Romanian society in particular, for which reason the subject is treated very carefully by the Romanian authorities,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the local news outlet.

Florentina Crăciun, who was working as a waiter at the Iraqi Embassy, and another female colleague who asked for her identity not to be made public, recently accused Consul Mohammed Ibrahim Waheed al-Azzawi of a pattern of sexual assault and repeated harassment against them on the grounds of the embassy.

“I brought him his tea, and I said, ‘Good morning, sir,’” Crăciun previously told Libertatea, explaining the first sexual assaults by Azzawi. “He came to me and began to kiss me on my neck and touch me on my back, which of course I objected to, and I told him that it was not an appropriate thing to do. I did not accept it.”

“It was very violent. He pulled my blouse, pulled my zipper down, exposed my breasts, tugged on my pants, pulled me into the bathroom to have sex with him,” Crăciun said about the second assault. “I resisted as much as I could, I dropped down, pushed, started screaming,” reportedly crying, knowing that no one there could help her.

The two Romanian female employees at the Iraqi Embassy filed their complaints with the local police and petitioned the Romanian Foreign Ministry to raise their concerns regarding Azzawi’s sexual harassment.

Crăciun on Thursday stated that the embassy’s spokesman had notified her that her salary would be cut this month.

“He told me that I would still receive only a small amount of the money because insurance for last month and this month must be paid. I was not paid last month. I filed a complaint with the ITM [Labor Inspection in Romania] because, now, I see they have no intention of paying me,” said the woman, who is determined to push for a trial and “hold Azzawi accountable” for his alleged assaults.

Editing by Nadia Riva