Macron moves to quash security aide crisis

PARIS: Top French officials were to appear for fresh hearings over the rogue security aide scandal which has engulfed the government of President Emmanuel Macron, who has broken his silence over the case by saying he bears the sole responsibility for the events.

The disgraced aide, 26-year-old former bodyguard Alexandre Benalla, was dismissed last Friday after videos emerged of him beat- ing a protester while wearing a police helmet and armband during a May Day protest in Paris.

“What happened on May 1 is terrible, serious, and for me it was a disappointment and a betrayal,” Macron told a group of lawmakers in his majority Republic on the Move party late Monday.

“The only person responsible for this affair is me, and me alone,” he said.

“The one who knew about and approved the punishment decided by my aides, it’s me and nobody else.”

Benalla was given a two-week suspension without pay days after the incident and removed from organising the president’s security during his trips. But the alleged assault of the young man was not reported to prosecutors, who opened a probe after French daily Le Monde published the video last week.

Opposition lawmakers have accused the government of a coverup and have paralysed parliamentary debate while launching investigative committees in both the National Assembly and Senate.

Several Cabinet members and security chiefs appeared before the panels yesterday, including a Senate hearing for office director Patrick Strzoda.