"
Failed technical gestures
" but "
no intentional blows
": at his trial in Paris, Alexandre Benalla invariably minimized Friday, September 24, his actions on May 1, 2018 place de la Contrescarpe, facing a skeptical court.
To read also "I was pinned to the ground": at the Benalla trial, two demonstrators from the Jardin des Plantes recount
These are the images that provoked the "
Benallagate
".
A representative of the Elysée, who came as an observer to the Labor Day procession enamelled that year with violent clashes, brutalizing a young man in the heart of the capital.
"
I do not strike intentionally
"
On the 7th day of the trial of the former collaborator of Emmanuel Macron, the court reaches the heart of the case, with, on the chairs of the civil parties, Georgios D. and his partner, Chloé P., both molested that day. .
Read alsoAlexandre Benalla assumes his acts of violence
In a quiet voice, the judge assessor Edmond Brunaud reread the depositions of witnesses of the scene, who say they believed to see a "
CRS which let go
", describe a "
beating
", "
gratuitous violence
". "
It's a violent scene, but I do not deliberately beat
", assures the bar Alexandre Benalla, right in his dark suit, who repeats having "
arrested
" a "
police attacker
" in a context of "
civil war
". "
It is an attempt to control on my part which was very muddled, but I did not use voluntary blows to hurt him
".
During the interrogation, the hearing turns into semantic ping-pong with the court.
"
Blows
"?
“
Failed technical gestures
”, for Alexandre Benalla.
A "
strangulation
"?
A "
neck wrench
" that "
didn't work because he was too excited
."
A "
brush
"?
An "
attempt to bring her back to the ground
".
Videos viewed frame by frame
The court watches all the videos of the facts: in slow motion, frame by frame - “
it's called surgery,
” smiles Judge Brunaud.
Comes the most famous video, that of Taha Bouhafs, LFI activist turned journalist, on which
Le Monde
identified Alexandre Benalla on July 18, 2018, triggering the scandal.
Read also Benalla, his passports, his privileges
On the screen, we see Vincent Crase, former LREM employee and co-defendant of Alexandre Benalla, catch Georgios D. and drag him, with CRS, for several meters.
He threatens him with one hand, they have a brief verbal exchange.
This is where Alexandre Benalla comes in: he grabs Georgios D. by the back, by the neck.
He is then seen punching her in the head.
"
I'm trying to catch him by the shoulder,
" begins Alexandre Benalla, annoyed by the laughter that runs through the courtroom. “
There is no hand that touches her head, it touches her head
”. "
Mr. Benalla, it is a hand that falls frankly ...
", notes the judge. “
It's a hand that's going to grab his shoulder, he's trying to run away.
», Retorts Benalla. "
For you, he's trying to run away here?"
», Replied the judge. “
Yes, of course. There are five CRS, they can't control it. He's incredibly tense, he's very nervous
”.
The video continues and, as Georgios D. falls to the ground, Alexandre Benalla steps on his chest.
“
Like that, the first time, we say to
ourselves
'
wow!
»», Launches the judge.
The defendant begins to mimic at the bar, affirming: "
I am unbalanced
", "
I am involved in my fall, I jump and I touch it for half a second
".
In the rest of the video, we see Georgios D. folded in half.
"
I remember very well, Mr. Benalla voluntarily walks on my thorax, it took my breath away and, immediately, I started to vomit
", described the young man at the bar earlier.
His arrest by CRS, then, will be also violent.
"It was very complicated to live"
The couple have always explained that they went out to celebrate six years together and were accidentally caught in the clashes.
After a CRS charge, he threw a carafe at the police, she an object that could be an ashtray and a plastic bottle - a "
reckless act
", they will regret, for which they were sentenced in 2019 to 500 euros fine.
A medical certificate concluding at 6 days of ITT was backdated - an unintentional error, according to the lawyer of Georgios D. Invited by the prosecutor, Chloé P. takes the floor.
“
At the time, it was very complicated to live, the weeks, the months and even more when the affair broke
”.
“
It's not easy, we still don't understand why it happened like this today.
To tell the truth, I do not expect much from this trial, from the start what we want is an apology.
Everything else is stronger than us, it will remain a trauma for life.
"