Marion Dubreuil edited by Solène Delinger 6:26 am, September 13, 2021

Alexandre Benalla will appear from Monday, September 13 before the Paris Criminal Court for the violence committed on the sidelines of May 1, 2018. The images of the Elysee mission manager hitting a demonstrator on the Place de la Contrescarpe had led to a political scandal. 

DECRYPTION

Three years after the explosion of the Benalla affair, which had shaken the highest levels of the State, the former Elysée representative will have to answer for his acts in court.

Alexandre Benalla appears from Monday, September 13 before the Paris Criminal Court, in particular for "violence in a meeting" and "carrying a weapon".

The ex-collaborator of Emmanuel Macron will be tried alongside three other defendants, two police officers and a reservist from the gendarmerie.

What are they blamed for? 

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The violence of Alexandre Benalla and Vincent Crase at the heart of the trial

It is above all the behavior of Alexandre Benalla and Vincent Crase that will be at the heart of the trial.

On May 1, the Elysee mission manager and the security officer of the Republic in March accompany the police officers who supervise the demonstrations as observers.

However, Alexandre Benalla and his acolyte, who carried a weapon that day without having the authorization, leave their role of spectator.

Justice today reproaches them for their violent gestures towards a couple, Chloé P. and Georgios D., place de la Contrescarpe, during an intervention of the CRS.

All while wearing a police armband.

They will also have to explain the brutal arrest of a man, Khélifa M., two hours earlier, at the Jardin des Plantes. 

In the park, Vincent Crase is also suspected of having thrown a young woman against a tree after realizing that she was filming him, then erasing the video on his phone.

Alexandre Benalla is suspected of having tackled another protester to the ground.

An intervention "not necessary", according to the examining magistrate

The two defendants refute the blows and speak of "arrests". Their defense invokes Articles 53 and 73 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, according to which, in the event of a "flagrant offense", in this case throwing projectiles at the police, any person can apprehend the author and lead him to a judicial police officer. The investigating judge for her part considered that their intervention was "not necessary", given the presence of many CRS. 

Finally, two high-ranking police officers within the Paris police headquarters will be tried for having transmitted, the evening when the scandal broke, a CD-ROM of video protection images to Alexandre Benalla to help him prepare his defense.

Commissioner Maxence Creusat reported the facts the next day, recognizing "bullshit", like his superior, Controller General Laurent Simonin.

The examining magistrate, however, considered that they "could not ignore" that these images should not be given to third parties.

The diplomatic passport case

In a second part of the trial, Alexandre Benalla will also have to answer for "forgery, use of forgery in writing and public use without the right of a badge" for having continued to travel, in Africa and in Israel, with diplomatic passports, several months after his dismissal. The ex-collaborator of Emmanuel Macron disputes this offense. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros for all the acts with which he is accused. His trial will end on October 1.