RN deputy Laurent Jacobelli indicted for defamation against a Renaissance deputy

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: Magali Cohen / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 9:14 p.m., April 8, 2024

The RN deputy for Moselle Laurent Jacobelli, targeted by a complaint filed in October by his Renaissance counterpart Belkhir Belhaddad for "insults and defamation towards a member of Parliament", was indicted, he told the AFP.

“This is the fairly classic procedure in cases of supposed defamation, there is systematically an indictment. Now, we are in this procedure, which will allow us to render our own conclusions on this matter,” declared Laurent Jacobelli, almost six months after the invectives he launched at his counterpart on the sidelines of a ministerial trip to Hayange, in Moselle.

“Either it will be classified or it will go further”

The deputy was indicted by an investigating judge on Friday after "a classic hearing", he said, confirming information from the Républicain Lorrain. “We gave, with my lawyer, our version of the facts, we will surely send additional conclusions, and then either it will be closed, or it will go further,” continued Laurent Jacobelli. Belkhir Belhaddad had filed a complaint the same day of the altercation, October 13, when Laurent Jacobelli had insulted him on the sidelines of a visit by Olivier Véran, then government spokesperson, to Hayange.

"Faced with these inexcusable and racist remarks by Laurent Jacobelli", Belkhir Belhaddad had filed a complaint "so that justice is done. And this decision, even if it presumes the innocence of the deputy, is a first step for me", reacted the Renaissance deputy to the AFP.

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“I filed a complaint for an act that I consider to be characterized, and behavior like that of Laurent Jacobelli, for me, only fuels divisions within a society and contributes to the escalation of tensions ( ...) we have clearly seen that the veneer has cracked and the violence of the extreme right is still present,” he continued. Belkhir Belhaddad also specified that he had been heard "at great length" two months ago by the investigating judge. He hopes that "this type of behavior cannot be repeated again, especially coming from a representative of the nation (...) we are here to set an example."

On October 13, a local newspaper camera captured the invectives: in a low voice, the RN deputy said, among local journalists and politicians, to the Renaissance deputy: "Remain polite, okay? I'm going to make a mess of things." at your place". Then a little later: “Is Madame Leduc well, is Hamas well?”, referring to the deputy for Moselle Charlotte Leduc, member of the LFI group, a few days after the Hamas attack in Israel. Belkhir Belhaddad was also called “scum” by Laurent Jacobelli.