Marine Le Pen apologized Thursday after relaying the photo of a man who was presented as one of the "bus murderers" of the bus driver in Bayonne. But she invited the media to "give the names" of "alleged murderers" and "alleged rapists".
"I am obviously sorry for this man who, if he is innocent, (found himself) in this situation", affirmed on France 2 the president of the National Rally. She justified herself by invoking her community manager who allegedly committed “an error in speed”. The Facebook message "was immediately removed from elsewhere," she said.
➡️ Bayonne: a complaint for slanderous denunciation and defamation, an apology?
"I asked my team to withdraw this Facebook message and I am sorry for this man to have found himself in this situation."
🗨️ @ MLP_officiel # Les4V @Caroline_Roux pic.twitter.com/FF5sodR8o8
"Why don't the media give the names of the alleged murderers, the alleged rapists?" Then questioned the far-right leader.
The apology follows the complaint filed Monday by a 29-year-old man for "defamation" and "slanderous denunciation", according to his lawyer. She intervenes after the distribution of a photo relayed by Marine Le Pen in particular, presenting him as one of the "murderers" of the bus driver victim of a fatal attack in Bayonne.
His photo has been widely shared on social networks, in particular by activists and elected representatives of the RN. Since then, everyone has deleted their tweets.
"Political recovery"
The portrait of this young Bayonnais had been published as well as the face of one of the four alleged attackers. Suspected of hiding the two potential perpetrators, this 30-year-old has an apartment in Balichon, the Bayonne district where the attack on driver Philippe Monguillot took place on July 5. The four were quickly arrested before being charged and placed in pre-trial detention.
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Threatened and insulted since, the complainant repeats in videos shared in particular on the Snapchat social network that he has "nothing to do with this story". The complainant's brother protested to AFP: "If it had not been swarthy, it would never have been resumed, it is political recovery, total manipulation. "
2/2 Marine Le Pen and a few other far-right leaders have dropped the masks by lending themselves, too sure of themselves, to this operation to legitimize violent racism, under # like "Scum kills". @SOS_Racisme #Bayonne is by this victim of the fachosphere.
- Dominique Sopo (@d_sopo) July 15, 2020The antenna of SOS Racisme de Bayonne has indicated that it intends to take legal action. "The family [of the young man] is completely stunned, it is catastrophic for him what is happening," said Monday the spokesman of the association, Djamel Mohammedi.