Paris (AFP)
Alexandre Benalla accused Monday of "political instrumentalization" and "manipulations" Mediapart, which had published sound clips of a conversation of the former collaborator Emmanuel Macron, comparing the site to the right-wing US media Breitbart .
In a river interview with the Nouvel Economiste, in which he mentions his new consultancy and security firm in Africa, Benalla, targeted by several investigations, says "that there has been political manipulation and media manipulation on the part of Mediapart and d? Edwy Plenel (founder of the site, ed) who are in some ways the + Breitbart and Steve Bannon + (former strategist Donald Trump, Ed) of a certain French left ".
On January 31, Mediapart published sound clips of a conversation between Alexandre Benalla and the employee of La République en marche Vincent Crase dating from July 26, 2018, four days after their indictment in the May 1 violence case. 2018 and in violation of their judicial review.
This revelation will be worth in particular to MM. Benalla and Crase to be remanded in custody on February 19, before being released a week later on appeal.
"Apart from the manipulations of Mediapart, the media have done their job by informing people that they may have perceived as strange, bizarre, wobbly, even borderline and illegal, it is the freedom of the press", Judge Benalla, denouncing all "pseudo-investigations".
Evoking a "brand Benalla", the former bodyguard Emmanuel Macron believes that "benefits primarily to the media." "When you go out of Benalla, there is nothing else to sell," he says.
Regarding his current activities, Mr. Benalla claims to have established his security company in Nigeria and Morocco and said to aim for a turnover of 3 million euros in 2019.
About his African networks and his links with businessmen engaged on the continent, Mr. Benalla replied: "For me, Françafrique is not a big word".
Mr. Benalla is under the influence of several investigations and judicial information. He was indicted in January 2019 for misuse of his diplomatic passports in the context of travel in Africa in particular.
"When you ask me about my trips to Africa with Vincent Miclet or Philippe Hababou Solomon, I'm not in any way embarrassed, you have to go through these networks," insists Mr. Benalla, evoking sums of money, 15,000 and 50,000 euros, lent by MM. Miclet and Solomon.
© 2019 AFP