Alexandre Benalla at his trial: "I am in my role as a citizen"
Alexandre Benalla on his arrival in court.
September 13, 2021. Thomas COEX AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Alexandre Benalla, former official in charge of the Elysee Palace, appears for having brutalized a couple and participated in arrests, during the excesses of the demonstration of May 1, 2018, while he was accompanying members of the police.
As well as the fraudulent use of diplomatic passports.
The case caused a scandal in July 2018 when videos appeared in the media.
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With our special
correspondent ,
Marie Casadebaig
This Wednesday, September 22, Alexandre Benalla had to explain his participation in the arrest of a demonstrator, in the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris. He had been filmed, in the company of another defendant, his friend and former employee of the LREM party, Vincent Crase. All this took place a few hours before the assault of a couple of demonstrators, Place de la Contrescarpe.
Alexandre Benalla was supposed to be alongside the police that day as a simple observer.
His friend Vincent Crase too.
However, the videos show the two men forcibly picking up a protester.
The former project manager twists his arm behind his back, the other straightens his chest.
“
At that time,”
explains Alexandre Benalla, “
I am neither an employee of the Élysée, nor an observer, I am in my role as a citizen.
"And the thirty-something to evoke a reflex in front of a man who has just kicked in the back of a CRS.
Benalla: "If I hadn't been there ..."
Police officers start chasing the suspect.
Alexandre Benalla is following suit.
An agent calls out to the fugitive and thinking that the two observers are colleagues, the protester tells them.
The assessor questions him: did they ever have the idea of specifying that they were not police officers?
And to refuse to participate in this interpellation?
Alexandre Benalla evokes the heat of the action, a moment of adrenaline.
He didn't think about it.
His story, still impassioned three years after the events, is that of a mission, of a civic duty, to do justice.
The thirty-something, calm but firm, shows no sign of regret, on the contrary, he even speaks of pride: "
If I had not been there
, he defends himself, the demonstrator
would never have been condemned for the aggression. of this CRS.
"
The judge is surprised at such a commitment, this May 1, with a touch of irony.
On the videos, he and his friend Vincent Crase advance in the middle of a dozen CRS.
►
To read also
:
All about the Benalla Affair
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