The Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the ministry is seeking advice from relevant authorities on how to deal with rape allegations against Melville Robertson Roberts, its director responsible for the American Division.
“The ministry has taken note of stories of alleged rape on the social media against Mr. Roberts,” Saikou Ceesay told The Chronicle. “We are taking necessary steps to seek advice from constituted relevant authorities to deal with the issue.” He did not give any further details.
Roberts, a joint 4th most senior official at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, and a trained lawyer has been accused by multiple women of rape and attempted rape. The alleged victims have inundated social media with stories of how he allegedly raped or attempted to rape them.
A #SurvivingMelville campaign has been set up to give platform to alleged victims of Roberts to come forward and tell their stories. A petition titled ‘Bringing a serial lawyer rapist to justice’ is also underway, targeting 1000 signatures. At the time of filing this report, 723 people have signed the petition.
Roberts Saturday appeared on a Facebook Live interview to react to the allegations. He described them as false and challenged his accusers to prove he raped them. His Facebook account has since been deactivated.
He has recently graduated from the University of Oxford, and was still in the U.K at the time of filing this report.
On twitter, Roberts described himself as a “very nice down to earth and God fearing individual”.
He has not responded to The Chronicle’s interview request.
