Paris (AFP)
Alexandre Benalla, already sent back to correctional for the fraudulent use of diplomatic passports, will also be tried for the violence of May 1, 2018 in Paris, at the origin of a political scandal caused by this ex-collaborator of Emmanuel Macron.
The investigating judge in charge of investigating this case of violence on the sidelines of the demonstration of May 1, 2018 in the capital signed on Monday the order returning Mr. Benalla and three other defendants to correctional, AFP learned Tuesday from judicial source.
The judge's order, almost in accordance with the requisitions of the Paris public prosecutor's office, sends the former mission manager reconverted to the private sector, before the criminal court for "willful violence", "untitled interference in the exercise of a public service "or even" unauthorized "carrying of arms" or "public wearing of insignia".
- Political scandal -
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.
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.
Mr. Benalla is accused of having molested demonstrators on the sidelines of the May Day parade, not only a couple at the Place de la Contrescarpe in Paris but also, since other revelations in August 2018, two people at the Jardin des Plantes.
At his side, Vincent Crase, former employee of the Republic in progress, will appear on the bench of defendants for the same type of offenses.
The two acolytes dispute the violence, believing to have helped the police to arrest demonstrators who threw projectiles at them.
In February 2019, MM.
Benalla and Crase spent a week in pre-trial detention in this case, after Mediapart revealed clandestine recordings of a conversation between them - dated July 26, 2018, four days after their indictment - proving that they had violated their judicial review and the prohibition to talk to each other.
Me Jacqueline Laffont, lawyer for Mr. Benalla, did not respond to AFP at midday.
Me Christian Saint-Palais, lawyer for Mr. Crase, did not wish to comment on this expected decision.
Two former senior officers of the Paris Police Prefecture, involved in the delivery of images of incidents in the Place de la Contrescarpe to Mr. Benalla, are also sent to correctional, in particular for "violation of professional secrecy".
They are Laurent Simonin, then Deputy Chief of Staff of the powerful Directorate of Public Order and Traffic (DOPC) of the Prefecture of Police, and Maxence Creusat, Police Commissioner of the same DOPC .
On the other hand, the judge pronounced a dismissal for a third police official, Jean-Yves Hunault, who had initially been implicated.
The trial will also focus on a third part: the selfie that Mr. Benalla took, showing off a pistol, during the 2017 presidential campaign, will also lead to him being tried for "illegal carrying of a weapon".
- Two trials, three investigations -
Five demonstrators became civil parties in this case, including the couple arrested at Place de la Contrescarpe.
The Benalla case, launched by this case of violence, has earned him another referral to trial since the end of January, for suspicion of fraudulent use of diplomatic and service passports.
Three other proceedings are still in progress.
One of them is linked to the May 1 case: an examining magistrate has been pursuing investigations since November 2019 to find out whether Mr. Benalla has concealed evidence, in particular safes or their contents, in the context of of the initial investigation into the violence.
The National Financial Prosecutor's Office is investigating suspicions of "corruption" after a contract between Vincent Crase's company, Mars, and a Russian oligarch, Iskander Makhmudov.
Finally, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation for suspicion of "false testimony before the Senate".
© 2021 AFP