• A viral montage on Facebook compares the judgments of Damien T., the man who slapped Emmanuel Macron, to that of Alexandre Benalla, a former collaborator of Emmanuel Macron indicted for assaulting two protesters on May 1, 2018.

  • According to this post, the first would have been "tried in three days", while the second would have "still nothing" three years later, insinuating that justice would be more lenient with the latter.

  • The reality is more complex.

    20 Minutes 

    takes stock.

Are these two cases really similar? A photomontage, reposted many times on Facebook in recent days, compares the legal treatment of Damien T., the man sentenced to four months in prison for having slapped Emmanuel Macron in the Drôme, to that of Alexandre Benalla, former official of the Elysee Palace filmed beating demonstrators in Paris, May 1, 2018.

We can thus read, under the portrait of Damien T., that he was "judged in three days".

While Alexandre Benalla, on the right, would have "still nothing", and this more than three years after the facts.

In comments, many Internet users denounce an unacceptable "double standards".

However, while it is true that the president's former security official has never been convicted yet, it would be abusive to say that he had no trouble with the law.

20 Minutes

 takes stock.

FAKE OFF

If Damien T. was tried so quickly, it is because the facts for which he was arrested did not require a thorough investigation.

Caught in the act and placed in police custody directly after slapping the President of the Republic, this nostalgic for medieval France has, moreover, quickly recognized the facts.

He was therefore tried in immediate appearance.

This rapid procedure, which only applies to offenses, can be initiated at the initiative of the public prosecutor if he considers "that the charges are sufficient and that the case is ready for trial.

In addition, the alleged perpetrator must, in the presence of his lawyer, agree to be tried according to this procedure.

What about Alexandre Benalla?

The Benalla case is much more complex. On May 1, 2018, the latter was filmed by journalist Taha Bouhafs molesting a couple of demonstrators at Place de la Contrescarpe in Paris. At the time of its posting, the scene passes for a muscular police arrest, especially as Alexandre Benalla is wearing a visor helmet. It was not until two and a half months later, on July 18, that the newspaper 

Le Monde 

revealed the identity of the project manager at the Elysée and introduced the general public to the name of Alexandre Benalla.

A preliminary investigation was opened in the wake of the Paris prosecutor's office, for "violence by a person in charge of a public service mission", "usurpation of functions" and "usurpation of signs reserved for public authority". Two days later, he was taken into police custody alongside his sidekick Vincent Crase, former head of En Marche security, also present on May 1. On the evening of July 21, the two men, as well as three police officers, were indicted and placed under judicial supervision.

Benalla was then indicted for "violence in a meeting that did not result in temporary incapacity for work", "interference with the exercise of a public function by performing acts reserved for public authority", "wearing and complicity in the prohibited and unlawful wearing of badges regulated by the public authority ”,“ concealment of violation of professional secrecy ”and“ concealment of misappropriation of images from a video protection system ”. The rest of the investigation is entrusted to an examining magistrate.

On June 4, 2021, the Paris Criminal Court announced that Alexandre Benalla, as well as three other people, will be tried from September 13 to October 1 for the violence of May 1, but also for the use that the former officer in charge of mission would have made four diplomatic passports after being fired by the Elysee. Converted into the private sector, Alexandre Benalla will be tried for “willful violence”, “untitled interference in the exercise of a public function”, “carrying a weapon”, and “wearing a public badge” unauthorized. But also for “forgery”, “use of forgery” and “public use and without right of documents justifying of a professional quality”.

A third case, that known as Russian contracts, concerns the conclusion of a contract by Alexandre Benalla and Vincent Crase with a Russian oligarch while they were still employed at the Elysee Palace and within En Marche.

This case led to the opening of an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office, in June 2019, for “corruption, passive corruption, money laundering and obstruction of justice”.

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