Disgraced bodyguard Benalla irks Macron with African ‘consulting’
PARIS: The French presidency has written to Emmanuel Macron’s disgraced former bodyguard Alexandre Benalla raising concerns over his recent work as a “consultant” in Africa, according to the letter seen by AFP on Thursday.
Benalla faces criminal charges after it emerged in July that he roughed up protesters during a May Day demonstration in Paris while wearing a police helmet.
The “Benalla affair” sparked a major scandal for Macron, prompting a wave of accusations from opponents that the presidency covered it up. Benalla, 27, was swiftly fired after the revelations, but officials are worried he may since have been profiting from his former insider status.
Two weeks ago it emerged that Benalla travelled to Chad in early December and met with President Idriss Deby, shortly before Macron himself paid a visit to the African country. Benalla said he was accompanying a “foreign business delegation” promoting major Middle Eastern companies.
Macron’s office told AFP this week that Benalla had not informed the presidency of the trip until afterwards.
“No matter what Mr Benalla was up to, he is neither an official nor unofficial envoy of the president,” his office said.
But the fresh revelations have sparked questions in France over why he was granted such highlevel access to an African leader.
On Thursday the investigative website Mediapart reported that Benalla had used a diplomatic passport to enter several African countries as well as Israel in recent weeks.
The Foreign Ministry later confirmed that Benalla had indeed been issued two diplomatic passports but was asked to return them after his dismissal this summer.