Paris (AFP)
Gérald Darmanin announced Sunday evening to file a complaint against Audrey Pulvar, head of the Socialist list in regional elections in Ile-de-France, who had deemed "quite chilling" the demonstration of the police on Wednesday in front of the National Assembly.
"Madame Pulvar's remarks go beyond the simple framework of an electoral campaign and deeply defame the police of the Republic. I am filing a complaint on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior", tweeted the Minister of the Interior, strongly criticized by opposition for saluting the police at the start of the rally.
The list of Mrs. Pulvar, Ile-de-France in common, reacted by denouncing "an attack on freedom of expression of extreme gravity".
"This attempt to intimidate an opposition candidate, by a Minister of the Interior, also in charge of the organization of the elections (...) is unprecedented under the Fifth Republic", writes the list in a statement.
"Until now in a democracy one could still express an opinion without the minister responsible for elections feeling authorized to intimidate a political opponent. Full support for @AudreyPulvar", tweeted for his part the First Secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, in the night from Sunday to Monday.
This is a complaint for "defamation", told AFP the entourage of Mr. Darmanin, himself a candidate for regional in Hauts-de-France and departmental in the North.
A demonstration "supported by the extreme right, in which participates a Minister of the Interior, who marches on the National Assembly to put pressure on the deputies in the process of examining a text of law concerning justice, it is a image which for me was quite chilling ", had explained the ex-journalist Saturday on France info.
Several left-wing politicians, including the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, Olivier Faure and the ecologist Yannick Jadot, joined this rally organized by the police unions, as well as elected officials from all political stripes, from the National Assembly to the Communist Party.
Only the officials of La France insoumise refrained from participating.
"Full solidarity with AudreyPulvar", tweeted in the evening the rebellious leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon: "Darmanin plays the big arms. He wants to intimidate. His complaint shows his weakness and his fear of the police organizations which make the law in his ministry. "
© 2021 AFP