Difficult to follow the political news in recent days without seeing the name of Taha Bouhafs.
Investiture, withdrawal, public support and denunciations… The militant journalist, official candidate for the legislative elections for a few hours, has been at the heart of a veritable roller coaster for several days.
But the case actually dates back to the very beginning of May.
At that time, two women reported to feminist activist and LFI supporter Caroline de Haas that they had been victims of Taha Bouhafs, who was then approached to represent the party in the legislative elections.
As she described to the Parisian, Caroline de Haas received “two testimonies from people who do not know each other.
One relates to aggressive private messages towards a member of the voluntary sector.
The other is a written, precise and detailed testimony on psychological violence and also acts of rape”.
The activist assured that she had informed a framework of the movement on May 2.
A description and an agreement
The case took a new turn last Friday, May 6.
That evening, an alleged victim of Taha Bouhafs - it is, for the time being, impossible to know if it is one of the people who confided in Caroline de Haas - sent a report to the follow-up against LFI's gender-based and sexual violence.
It was the next day that its members became aware of this testimony "relating to alleged acts of sexual violence", later qualified as "sexual assault" by Clémentine Autain.
According to information from Mediapart, the report discovered on Saturday was also sent to members of the electoral committee of France Insoumise – which is in particular responsible for validating candidacies for the legislative elections.
It was, moreover, "personally addressed" to Clémentine Autain, although she is not part of the monitoring committee against gender-based and sexual violence.
In view of the seriousness of the accusations "never encountered" so far, in the words - a posteriori - of the deputy to Mediapart, a procedure was "immediately" initiated.
Except that at the same time, this same Saturday, political life continued on its way as if nothing had happened: the great convention of nomination of the Nupes (New popular ecological and social union) was held in the after -noon.
All the rebellious executives were present.
A few hours later, in the evening, Taha Bouhafs officially announced that he had obtained the nomination of the union of the left for the 14th district of the Rhône.
Voluntary withdrawal
Events took a new turn on Monday.
According to a press release from France Insoumise, Taha Bouhafs was "confronted with the accusations" of which he was the subject by the monitoring committee.
Clémentine Autain and her fellow deputy Mathilde Panot exchanged with him, according to Mediapart.
It was at this time that he was told that the nomination of Nupes could potentially be withdrawn from him, still according to LFI.
That same day, Fabien Roussel asked on France 2 that the Insoumis review their choice for the candidate of the 14th district of the Rhône.
The arguments put forward by the boss of the Communists - the conviction of Taha Bouhafs in September 2021 for "public insult on the grounds of origin" and the presence of another potential candidate for local anchorage - were far from the content of the accusations released in the press on Wednesday.
The Communist Party then explained to the Parisian that it hoped that discussions would continue on this constituency.
But, in the night from Monday to Tuesday, a reversal of the situation took place.
Taha Bouhafs published a press release on Twitter in which he implicitly announced (without officially saying so) that he was withdrawing from the legislative campaign.
He says he “was supported, not enough to hold on, but enough to be grateful for”.
“Keep fighting.
For my part, I tried but I can't do it anymore, ”he explains.
pic.twitter.com/rXNtwUmbAS
— Taha Bouhafs 🔻 (@T_Bouhafs) May 9, 2022
Early in the morning, several executives of La France insoumise reacted with sadness.
"I think it should be interpreted like that (a withdrawal of candidacy)" and it is "a great acknowledgment of failure", indicated LFI deputy Alexis Corbière on France 2. He told us, this Thursday, that he was then "knowing nothing" about the accusations of sexual violence.
Relaying Taha Bouhafs' press release, Clémentine Autain denounced "the injustice, the violence of the attacks from the far right, relayed ad nauseam in the media, by Macronie and even in certain ranks on the left, against a young man without a diploma, from working-class neighborhoods and immigrants”.
Without mentioning, at that time, the accusations of a sexual nature, of which she was however aware, having spoken with the young activist a few hours earlier.
This reaction against the racist attacks suffered by Taha Bouhafs is in no way contradictory with the defense of the alleged victims of the journalist, she assures the Parisian.
It is high time to look injustice in the face, the violence of the attacks from the far right, relayed ad nauseam in the media, by macronie and even in certain ranks on the left, against a young man without a diploma, from QP and immigration.
https://t.co/pBimHe1OoD
— Clementine Autain (@Clem_Autain) May 10, 2022
The official confirmation of Taha Bouhafs' withdrawal of candidacy came in the morning from Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
On Twitter, the leader of the Insoumis denounced "a pack" which was "relentless against him".
With Mediapart, Taha Bouhafs explained on Tuesday that he was "at the end of the line".
“The reporting was the last straw that led me to withdraw.
(…) This is part of the slander mentioned in my press release,” he told the news site.
Revelations in the press
On Wednesday, rumors of accusations of sexual or gender-based violence against Taha Bouhafs became more and more pressing on social networks.
At 1:30 p.m., BFMTV revealed first that the follow-up committee of insubordinate France had been seized.
Less than 45 minutes later, the radical left formation confirmed in a press release the receipt, “Saturday, May 7, of a testimony relating to alleged facts of sexual violence alleged against Taha Bouhafs”.
Shortly after 4 p.m., Jean-Luc Mélenchon indicated on Twitter that he "learned" these accusations against Taha Bouhafs.
“The voice of women must be taken seriously.
I am counting on the LFI ad hoc commission to establish the truth.
This does not exempt the racists who harassed him,” he wrote.
In a first version of his article, which can be found in the archives, BFMTV indicated, on the basis of a single source, that the leader of the Insoumis would himself have "disconnected" the candidate for the legislative elections on Sunday.
What La France insoumise denies.
This passage of the article was quickly deleted.
I learn of the accusations against Taha Bouhafs.
Women's voices must be taken seriously.
I am counting on the LFI ad hoc commission to establish the truth.
This does not exempt the racists who harassed him.https://t.co/VybjIVggCv
— Jean-Luc Melenchon (@JLMelenchon) May 11, 2022
Among the other political figures who publicly reacted on Wednesday afternoon, Julien Bayou addressed his "support for the victims".
The leader of Europe Ecologie Les Verts also specified that he had deleted a tweet published the day before and supporting Taha Bouhafs, “to avoid any misinterpretation”.
Others, such as LFI's digital communication manager Antoine Léaument, deleted their previous message but without specifying it for transparency - contacted to find out why, Antoine Léaument did not answer us.
But why did La France insoumise wait for the publication of the BFMTV article to officially communicate on these accusations, known for five days?
Not making anything public was “the wish expressed by the author of the initial testimony”, according to the press release from the monitoring committee.
Questioned by Le Parisien this Thursday, Clémentine Autain confirmed that "the rhythm of the women who testify is not that of the media".
In addition to the desire not to participate in the wave of racist violence that Taha Bouhafs has also suffered, there are "great difficulties (for the complainants) in making the accusations public".
Since Tuesday, the young activist has not spoken officially.
In the event that he had not himself hinted at the withdrawal of his candidacy, the electoral committee of La France insoumise could have decided to withdraw his investiture, on the basis of a report by the monitoring committee against the sexist and sexual violence.