Journalist and activist Taha Bouhafs, who had reported on Emmanuel Emmanuel Macron's presence on Friday at the Parisian theater of Bouffes du Nord, left police custody this Saturday evening.
The Paris public prosecutor's office immediately opened judicial information for "participation in a group formed to commit violence or damage" and "organization of an undeclared demonstration". The investigating judge must decide in the evening on his possible indictment.
As a reminder, the representation attended by the head of state was briefly disturbed by an attempt to intrude demonstrators into the theater, on the 44th day of strike against the pension reform.
"If you inform, you risk prison"
"By this request, the Prosecutor's office's objective is to keep Taha Bouhafs' mobile phone and the benefit of the secrecy of the investigation, to hide the emptiness of the file…", said Mr. Arié Alimi, according to the independent journalist close to Taha Bouhafs, David Dufresne.
"It is a message sent by the executive and the prosecution to all journalists. If you inform, you risk imprisonment, ”added the lawyer. In the evening, a collective bringing together the media (L'Humanité, Mediapart, etc.), unions and associations (Attac, LDH) also denounced this legal procedure. "It is inconceivable that the public prosecutor of Paris, Rémy HEITZ, take the decision to deprive this journalist of his freedom at the request of the Elysée Palace and the GSPR even though he has not committed any offense", can we read in this press release.
Press release in support of @T_Bouhafs: "It is inconceivable that the public prosecutor of Paris, Rémy HEITZ, take the decision to deprive this journalist of his freedom at the request of the Elysée Palace and the GSPR even though he is has committed no offense. ”pic.twitter.com/fdp0sfD71A
- David Dufresne (@davduf) January 18, 2020Back to the facts. Before the start of the play, Taha Bouhafs had explained on Twitter that he was "three rows behind the President of the Republic". Note that he is not the only Internet user, and not the first, to have reported on the social networks the presence of the President of the Republic.
“Activists are somewhere around the corner and are calling on everyone to come back. Something is brewing… the evening may be hectic, ”he added.
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He then asked his tens of thousands of subscribers whether or not to throw his shoes on the president, like the famous gesture of an Iraqi journalist against US President Georges W. Bush in 2008. "I kidding [...] the safety watch looks weird there, "he then dropped.
I am currently at the Bouffes du Nord theater (Metro La Chapelle)
3 rows behind the president of the republic.
Activists are somewhere around the corner and are calling on everyone to come back.
Something is brewing ... the evening may be hectic. pic.twitter.com/0mfwQPwdzr
The arrest of Taha Bouhafs, who films social movements for the information site Over There if I am there, has aroused many reactions. “We arrest a journalist for tweeting about the presence of the Contemptuous in the theater. Welcome to #Macronie, ”reacted France Insoumise MP Danièle Obono on Twitter.
“He did not commit any crime. Suddenly what is done to him becomes one. Strange silence of the editorialists! Are they afraid too? "Jean-Luc Mélenchon said on Twitter this Saturday evening.
His status as a journalist challenged
Like the deputies of the LREM majority (Aurore Bergé, Célia de Lavergne), many political figures have refused to qualify this 22-year-old young man, formerly militant of rebellious France, as a journalist. "Taha informed, as any journalist would have done, that he was in the same room as the President of the Republic and that demonstrators were outside," replied the news site. Over there if I'm there, through the voice of its founder Daniel Mermet.
Taha Bouhafs, known for filming Alexandre Benalla violating a couple in Paris on May 1, 2018, had already been placed in police custody in June while he was covering a demonstration in the Paris suburbs, attracting the support of part of the profession. He is to be tried on February 25 in Créteil for "contempt and rebellion".
In 2019, however, he indicated to Liberation that he was no longer involved in this party. He refutes the term "militant journalist" by explaining to Liberation: "The militant label I would be OK, if we give it to others. When it is only for me, that means that I am a journalist but not too much anyway ”.
