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Serious allegations against Jeffrey Donaldson
Photo: Mark Marlow / EPA
After the surprise resignation of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson on Good Friday, allegations of rape have now become known. Donaldson had resigned from his position with immediate effect because he had been confronted with “allegations of a historic nature.” It has now become known that the Northern Irish police are investigating the politician for sexual offenses that occurred a long time ago and took him into custody on Thursday.
A Northern Ireland police spokesman did not name Donaldson on Friday, but said charges had been filed against a 61-year-old man. According to the spokesman, a 57-year-old woman is also charged with aiding and abetting the sexual offenses. The British BBC speaks of rape in this context. Donaldson and his alleged accomplice are scheduled to appear in court on April 24. Donaldson is married and has two children. The politician deleted his accounts on several social media platforms.
Just a few weeks ago, the politician led his party as a junior partner in a government with the Catholic-republican Sinn Féin. In doing so, he ended a year-long boycott by the DUP in protest against the Brexit rules for Northern Ireland, which had paralyzed the political institutions in the part of the country that belongs to the United Kingdom.