French interior minister defends handling of Macron aide scandal
PARIS: France’s interior minister yesterday defended his handling of a video showing a top security aide to President Emmanuel Macron striking a May Day protester, a scandal that has rocked the government and prompted accusations of a cover-up.
Speaking before a parliamentary commission, Gerard Collomb said his staff told him about the video on May 2, the day after Alexandre Benalla beat the man during a police operation to clear protesters from a Paris square.
But Collomb, who had faced calls to resign from opposition lawmakers, said his staff had informed the police and Macron’s office about the incident.
“It was up to them to respond,” he said, adding that it was not his role to inform prosecutors.
Benalla is seen wearing a police helmet and armband in the video and Collomb told lawmakers he was also in possession of a police radio – even though he was only there as an observer, accompanied by an officer who was supposed to ensure he did not participate.
Collomb said he did not know who invited Benalla to observe the May 1 demonstrations, which were marred this year by clashes between police and about 200 violent demonstrators who smashed shop windows.
He also said that while observers are routinely invited for such operations and equipped with protective equipment, he did not know who provided Benalla and an associate, Vincent Crase, with armbands and radios.
“That is what the IGPN (police oversight body) is surely going to determine in its report,” he said.
Paris police chief Michel Delpuech is scheduled to appear before the panel later yesterday.
Opposition lawmakers have seized on the scandal, with some accusing the government of covering up the alleged violence committed by Benalla and Crase, a security agent employed by Macron’s Republic on the Move (LREM) party.
Both men were charged Sunday with assault, while Benalla is also charged with impersonating a police officer.
Three police officers have also been charged with providing police surveillance footage of the protest to Benalla so that he could claim he was justified in striking the man.
Despite mounting pressure Macron has yet to speak publicly on Benalla’s case, which is swiftly becoming the most damaging scandal since he won the presidency last year with promises to restore integrity and transparency to government.
Benalla was suspended for two weeks without pay over the incident in May, but it was not clear why prosecutors were not informed of the video and alleged violence.
“In my opinion it’s up to those responsible in their administrations, closest to the facts, to gather any elements which would justify informing prosecutors of an infraction,” Collomb said.
Benalla, 26, was fired Friday after French daily Le Monde published a video taken by smartphone showing him striking a man at least twice as riot police looked on while breaking up the demonstration.
Le Monde later posted another video showing Benalla violently wrestling a young woman to the ground during the scuffles on a square near the Rue Mouffetard, a picturesque Left Bank street.
The man and woman seen in the videos have come forward and plan to testify, a source close to the inquiry said.
The government has been forced to suspend debate on a constitutional reform bill after a revolt by lawmakers, who have announced investigations by both the National Assembly and Senate.
“Why the devil did he insist on protecting a second-rank employee who should have been kicked out of the Elysee months ago?” rightwing daily Le Figaro, which has made no secret of its support for Macron since his election, asked in an editorial Sunday. — AFP