Alexandre Benalla is referred to trial -

JACQUES DEMARTHON / AFP

Alexandre Benalla, former collaborator of Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, was referred to trial on Monday by the investigating judge responsible for investigating the case of the violence of May 1, 2018 in the capital, learned on Tuesday judicial source.

Already sent back to correctional for the fraudulent use of diplomatic and service passports, Alexandre Benalla will face a second trial, alongside three other defendants, mainly for beatings to demonstrators in Paris which had sparked a political scandal.

Caught hand in hand

The order for referral to the criminal court dated Monday, almost in line with the requisitions of the Paris prosecutor's office, returns the former mission manager, reconverted in the private sector, to the criminal court for "willful violence", "untitled interference in the exercise of a public function ”or even“ carrying of a weapon ”or“ public wearing of insignia ”unauthorized.

On July 18, 2018, the daily

Le Monde

identified the collaborator of the Head of State in a video shot and broadcast on May 1 by Taha Bouhafs, an insubordinate La France activist who has since become a journalist.

In it, Alexandre Benalla, wearing a visor helmet of the police, attacks a young man on the ground, on the Place de la Contrescarpe in Paris.

A state affair that rocks

In a few hours, the affair turns into a political scandal and creates an unprecedented crisis during the mandate of Emmanuel Macron.

The Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation on July 19 into the facts of “violence”.

Quickly extended to cases of hijacking of video surveillance images of which senior police officials are suspected, this very sensitive case was entrusted three days later to investigating judges.

Alexandre Benalla is accused of having molested demonstrators on the sidelines of the May Day parade, not only on Place de la Contrescarpe in Paris but also, since other revelations in August 2018, in the Jardin des Plantes.

At his side, his sidekick Vincent Crase, former employee of the Republic on the move, who will appear on the bench for the same offenses.

Funny selfie

Alexandre Benalla and Vincent Crase dispute the violence, believing that they have helped the police to arrest demonstrators who threw projectiles at them.

Two former high-ranking officers of the Paris Police Prefecture, involved in the delivery of images of the incidents in the Place de la Contrescarpe to Alexandre Benalla, are also sent back to correctional purposes, in particular for “violation of professional secrecy”.

The investigation also focused on a third part, the selfie that Alexandre Benalla took, showing off a weapon, during the 2017 presidential campaign. The judge, however, pronounced a dismissal for a third police official who had initially been implicated.

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