It is a case that shook the highest spheres of the state and undermined the “
exemplary
”
Republic
advocated by Emmanuel Macron.
The revelation of a video of Alexandre Benalla, helmet of the police on his head, hitting a man on May 1, 2018, place de la Contrescarpe, in Paris, had caused a stir in the summer of this year- the.
For these facts as well as for the so-called passport case, the former collaborator of Emmanuel Macron is tried with Vincent Crase, from this Monday, before the Paris Criminal Court.
Read also A year ago, the Benalla affair began at Place de la Contrescarpe
The scandal erupted on July 18, 2018, when Alexandre Benalla was identified by
Le Monde
on a video by Taha Bouhafs, a former activist of rebellious France who became a journalist. On these images, shot on May 1 on the Place de la Contrescarpe in the fifth arrondissement of Paris and broadcast the same day, we see Alexandre Benalla, wearing a visor helmet of the police, hitting a man. The investigations allow to establish that he also molests a couple on the same place as well as two other people in the Jardin des Plantes.
Problem, the man is then in charge of mission with the president, and his action does not seem to correspond to that of an operation of maintenance of order. Very quickly, the opposition seized on the matter and issued strong criticisms on the management of the security services of the Elysee. The Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation on July 19 and Alexandre Benalla was dismissed by the Élysée the following day.
After several months of investigation, Alexandre Benalla and Vincent Crase, a former employee of the Republic on the move, are indicted and placed in pre-trial detention for a week in February 2019. They then claim to have helped the police. to question demonstrators who threw projectiles at them.
But for the investigating judge in charge of the case, their intervention "
did not appear necessary
".
It orders their referral to the criminal court.
"
I am the useful fuse of power
"
In his book
What they don't want me to say
published in November 2019, Alexandre Benalla admitted that
"errors were obviously made by me, that's for sure, but it seems despite everything that I have my back very wide. And I am far from being the only one responsible for this wreck. I am the useful fuse of power, ”he
laments.
Now 29 years old and reconverted in the private sector, the former official in charge of the Elysee Palace must therefore appear for "
violence in a meeting, untitled interference in the exercise of a public function, carrying a weapon, public and unlawful use of a badge, violation of professional secrecy and disclosure of video protection images
”. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros. At his side, Vincent Crase, former employee of the Republic on the move, must answer for "
violence in meetings, public use and without the right of a badge, carrying a prohibited weapon and deleting data
" and risks three years of imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.
Read also The day the Benalla affair broke, the first breach of a smooth start to the five-year term
Two former high ranks of the Paris Police Prefecture, suspected of having handed over to Alexandre Benalla the CCTV images of the Place de la Contrescarpe, are for their part tried for "
disclosure of video protection images and violation of professional secrecy
" .
For a "
good administration of justice
", the criminal court of Paris ordered the junction of these files with that of the fraudulent use by Alexandre Benalla of diplomatic and service passports.
For several months after his dismissal from the Elysee Palace, he had indeed continued to travel with diplomatic passports.
He also held a service passport obtained fraudulently according to the prosecution.
An investigation was opened on December 29, 2018 by the Paris prosecutor's office.
Regarding this second part, the former project manager is judged for "
forgery, use of forgery in writing and public use without the right of a badge
".
Three other ongoing investigations
The legal troubles do not end there for Alexandre Benalla, since three other legal proceedings concerning him are still underway in Paris. One, under the aegis of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), concerns suspicion of "
corruption
" in a contract between Vincent Crase's company, Mars, and a sulphurous Russian oligarch.
A second, entrusted since November 2019 to an examining magistrate, concerns the mysterious safe that the ex-project manager had at his home to store his weapons, and on the contents of another safe in his office in the Elysee.
Alexandre Benalla is suspected of having concealed evidence as part of the investigation into the May 1 violence.
Finally, the Paris prosecutor's office has been investigating since April 2019 on suspicions of "
false testimony
" before the Senate commission of inquiry.
A procedure for "
failure to report obligations to the HATVP
" (High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life) was, however, closed without follow-up in February 2020.
