Embassy employees in Romania accuse Iraqi Consul of sexual assault

Two Romanian female workers at the Iraqi Embassy in Bucharest filed complaints to local police and also petitioned at the Romanian Foreign Ministry as part of sexual assault accusations against a high-level Iraqi diplomat stationed there.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Two Romanian female workers at the Iraqi Embassy in Bucharest filed complaints to local police and also petitioned at the Romanian Foreign Ministry as part of sexual assault accusations against a high-level Iraqi diplomat stationed there.

The women charged that Consul Mohammed Ibrahim Waheed al-Azzawi shows a pattern of sexual assault and repeated harassment against females on the grounds of the embassy.

Florentina Crăciun, who has worked at the diplomatic mission for a decade, says the first time Azzawi acted inappropriately toward her was in the spring of this year.

"I took his tea, and I said, 'Good morning, sir,'" she told the Romanian Libertatea newspaper. "He came to me and began to kiss me on my throat and touch me on my back, which of course I opposed and I told him that it was not a nice thing to do. I did not accept it." 

"The second time, he waited for me in front of the desk and began to touch me. I started crying and I went back and told them that it is not normal for [staff from] an embassy to do such a thing," she said.

She said that no one in the embassy was able to speak out against the Azzawi’s actions for various reasons.

"It was very brutal. He pulled my blouse, pulled my zipper, pulled my breasts out, pulled me on my pants, pulled me to the bathroom to have sex with him," she said. "I resisted as much as I could, I dropped myself down, pushed, started screaming," Crăciun cried, knowing that no one there can help her, according to the newspaper report.

"He would have done what he wanted with the other employees without someone brave to denounce him."

Florentina Crăciun tells her story to a local Bucharest newspaper. (Photo: Libertetea Newspaper)
Florentina Crăciun tells her story to a local Bucharest newspaper. (Photo: Libertetea Newspaper)

In another report by Libertatea newspaper, a second female Romanian employee working at the embassy, who preferred not to be named, spoke of similar behavior by Azzawi.

"He called me to go to his office. He told me to close the door with the key. When I asked why, he told me he wanted to tell me something. I refused."

She continued, "Then he said, 'I want to kiss you, I want to kiss you!' I said, 'What? What is this? Are not you ashamed?' And he made a sign to go in the bathroom. And I said, 'No! If you touch me, I will throw you off the balcony!'"

She told the newspaper that she immediately fled from the embassy and ended up resigning a few weeks later.

The newspaper contacted the Iraqi mission in Bucharest for a comment before publishing the second report, but a staff member reportedly told them, "We have nothing to declare on this subject, and this is the official position of the embassy," before hanging up abruptly.

Crăciun, who, along with the other woman, has since pursued charges against Azzawi with both Bucharest police and Romania's Foreign Ministry, says the traumatic effects of the attacks and continued harassment are ongoing.

"Humiliated, offended, terrified. I cannot sleep at night, I go to the hospital every week. Panic attacks, I cannot sleep at night," she said. "I went to the psychiatrist, and they gave me sleeping pills but I still cannot sleep. They humiliated me."  

After the release of the first article, the newspaper reported that the Iraqi embassy responded only by stating, "Thank you for paying attention to the problems of Romanian citizens, proof of the professionalism that the media in Romania are contributing to the discovery of truth. Currently, Mr. Al-Azzawi is on holiday in Baghdad."

Iraq has a total of 47 embassies and one consulate office in various countries around the world.

Editing by John J. Catherine