Minister denies responsibility in Macron aide affair
PARIS: French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb on Monday said it was not up to him to report alleged violence committed by an aide to President Emmanuel Macron.
Collomb was giving evidence to a parliamentary committee looking into the affair, after Macron’s security aide Alexandre Benalla was identified as the man filmed wearing a police helmet and apparently assaulting a young man on the margins of a May Day protest.
The opposition has accused Macron’s office as a cover-up after it was revealed that the aide initially received a 15-day suspension.
Since being identified by newspaper Le Monde last week, Benalla has been placed under formal investigation for charges that include group violence and unauthorised performance of an official function, and sacked by the Elysee, which cited evidence of additional wrongdoing.
Collomb, the first official to provide evidence to the committee, said he learned of Benalla’s actions the day after the May Day protest, which was marred by riots and vandalism.
Collomb said his chief adviser told him about the video, which appeared to show Benalla in the company of riot police dragging a young woman by the neck and then violently grabbing, throwing to the ground and beating a young man. Benalla had been authorised to attend the protest as an observer but not to become physically involved, according to the Elysee.
The adviser told Collomb that he had already informed the head of Macron’s private office and Paris police headquarters.
The opposition argues that under French law, Collomb and any Elysee officials who knew of the affair should have immediately reported him to prosecutors.
But Collomb said that after learning that the Elysee intended to sanction Benalla, “I considered that the facts that had been reported had been taken into account at the appropriate level and therefore I did not deal with the issue any further.”
Lawmakers asked the minister repeatedly about his actions, citing a legal provision that requires any public officials to make a report to prosecutors if they become aware of crimes. “It’s not up to me to do it,” he said with exasperation. Collomb argued that, in his role as minister, he received numerous reports about potential criminal offences.