The bodyguard of Emmanuel Macron: Minister in charge of the presidency

The case surrounding a bodyguard of French President Emmanuel Macron continues to afflict the head of state: At a hearing in parliament, the minister of the Interior Gerard Collomb said that he knew very early the allegations of violence against Alexandre Benalla. However, he rejected the allegations of concealment.

Responsibility for any errors, however he gave to the presidential office and to the police direction. "It was up to them to act," Collomb said during the hearing.

The newspaper Le Monde just published a video a few days ago showing Benalla and the clerical defendant The Republic in March, Vincent Crase, violently attacked and beat a protester during a rally in Paris May, the 1st. Benalla was wearing a police helmet, although he was not a policeman.

When he discovered it on May 2 Macron's office was going to punish Benalla, he said, "did not care about the subject," said Collomb at the board's investigation committee. ;National Assembly. He had come to the conclusion that they had taken the thing properly

Previously, Macron himself had tried to go on the offensive in the Benalla case. He promised to clarify the issue Monday morning. The president was "extremely determined" to make known the truth, said his spokesman on radio RTL.

Benalla was sanctioned by the Elysee – in May he was suspended for two weeks of service and reprimanded. But on July 14, the French National Day, Benalla was allowed to play again as a bodyguard on the president's side. It was only after the release of the video on "The World" that the release of Benalla was announced on Friday morning.

On Sunday, the prosecution opened a formal preliminary inquiry into Benalla. He is accused of violence against a protester and the opposition accuses the government of concealing the incident.

Because the incident has long been known within the government, but that the prosecution was not initially informed, the government is under pressure (read an badysis of the scandal here). If and when Macron himself was aware of the incident, is not yet clear.

In addition to Benalla and Crase are also three police officers in the center of the investigation. They would have obtained videos of Benalla from surveillance cameras of the city of Paris. The five defendants were placed under judicial supervision, according to the prosecution.