Paris (AFP)
A man with "special status", who knew "to play between the lines": the court tried Tuesday in Paris to identify the exact functions at the Elysee Palace of Alexandre Benalla, who is tried for three weeks especially for the violence of the 1st May 2018.
Identified by Le Monde brutalizing a couple Place de la Contrescarpe in Paris, on the sidelines of the demonstration of May 1, 2018, Alexandre Benalla was fired two days after the explosion of the scandal, the tremors of which lasted several months.
What was his exact role at the "Château"?
Like parliamentary committees and investigating judges, the court came up against the nebulous role of the then 26-year-old young man on Tuesday.
Recruited in May 2017 after ensuring the safety of candidate Emmanuel Macron, Alexandre Benalla has a new business card: project manager, assistant to the chief of staff of the Elysee.
His missions, as he described them: "organization of travel, coordination of security services during events, private travel of the Macron couple and management of diplomatic gifts, details the president Isabelle Prévost-Desprez.
Alexandre Benalla Sabrina BLANCHARD AFP
Alexandre Benalla assures that he had "no authority to give an order" to the police officers of the Security Group of the Presidency of the Republic (GSPR) and to the gendarmes of the military command, in charge of the security of the Head of State.
It "transmits [was] information," he adds.
- "Give us an example, because this is a bit esoteric", ironically the president.
- "For example, the president's wife wishes to organize a music festival at the Elysée: I participate in the organizational meeting, I can say to [a police officer]: is it possible to install a giant screen there? ", describes the defendant.
- "You are the principal, all the same ...", slips the magistrate.
He confirms that he also "co-chaired" meetings with the Paris police prefect: on the organization of the "One planet summit" and the funeral of Johnny Hallyday in December 2017, for the return of the Blues after the Cup of the football world in July 2018.
Alexandre Benalla was an "authority" on the ground, declared Maxence Creusat, commissioner at the Paris police headquarters.
To the point that the heads of the GSPR were "ostracized" by the project manager, as he said during the investigation?
"If you are pleasant, urban, at some point, people turn to you, it is you who are seen as an animator," said the policeman.
"It's playing between the lines" and "Alexandre Benalla was a very good player between the lines".
- "Proximity to the President" -
At the Elysee Palace, "it's all about efficiency, speed," says Alexandre Benalla.
"There is no decorum, no formalism defined in hierarchical links, there is a mission, everything goes quickly, no day is like the other, it starts at 6.30 am and it ends at midnight, 1:00 am the best".
Yes, he had a "special status" linked to his "proximity to the President of the Republic and his wife".
“I think there's no hiding it, I've been playing the franchise on it from the start,” he shrugged.
In its final report, the Senate commission of inquiry installed after the explosion of the case insists on the "continued vagueness" of its functions, underlines the president.
Did he have a "personal security function of the president?"
Alexandre Benalla (C) wearing a helmet and Vincent Crase (C, L) grab a protester on May 1, 2018 on the Place de la Contrescarpe in Paris Naguib-Michel SIDHOM AFP / Archives
"I was not Emmanuel Macron's bodyguard," repeats Alexandre Benalla, who criticizes the "a priori negative of the commission of inquiry. When you don't want to see, you don't see".
For him, his functions were "very clear".
"It was clear enough for it to go well and it went well until May 1, 2018," he said.
That day, precisely, Alexandre Benalla sent an SMS to the President of the Republic to warn him of the "incident" of the Place de la Contrescarpe.
A message sent from his personal phone, which he claimed to have "lost" - yet investigations have shown that he had used it just after his custody.
"Losing something, finding it, is a possibility. I have never stood in the way of the manifestation of the truth," defends Mr. Benalla.
In 2019, he finally returned a USB drive with a backup of the phone.
Alexandre Benalla wearing a helmet on May 1, 2018 on the Place de la Contrescarpe in Paris - AFP / Archives
"Here we can lie as we want, but when things get stuck, it gets stuck," warns the president.
"I'm telling you, Mr. Benalla".
The trial continues until October 1.
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