The five days that made the Benalla case a state scandal

• July 18: Identification

After Several Weeks of Investigation, Le Monde reveals that Alexandre Benalla, a close collaborator of the President of the Republic, is the author of violence filmed against two demonstrators, on the sidelines of the parade of May 1, place de la Contrescarpe, in the 5 ^e arrondissement of Paris.

A video, posted on May 1 and widely shared since, showed a man with a helmet pull a young girl by the neck, then come back to take violently a young man, already on the ground, surrounded by CRS. When Le Monde identifies him more than two months later, Patrick Strzoda, the cabinet director of the presidency, acknowledges having been informed at the time of the acts of Mr. Benalla and immediately warned the president of the Republic. A sanction was then imposed: a layoff of fifteen days, with suspension of salary, as well as a demotion of status to an administrative post. Measures too lenient according to the opposition, which is the Elysee to give explanations as soon as possible.

See also:
        
    
                "The World" identifies, on a video, a Macron employee hitting a protester, May 1, in Paris
    

• July 19: Investigations

Thursday morning, the Elysée finally react through the voice of his spokesman, Bruno Roger-Petit, who, in the press, focuses on the measures taken, claiming that they constitute "the most serious sanction ever pronounced against a chargé de mission working at the Elysée". Another man present that day and also suspected of violence, Vincent Crase, had also been sanctioned: Reservist gendarme and employee of La République en marche, he was then notified the "end" of "any collaboration between him and the president" .

At the same time, the Paris public prosecutor's office opens a preliminary investigation into the counts of violence by person in charge of a public service mission , usurpation of functions and usurpation of signs reserved for the public authority. An investigation is entrusted to the Crime Against the Person Brigade (BRDP). In parallel with the investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor's office, the Minister of the Interior, Gerard Collomb, announced he seized the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), in order to "determine under what conditions" the two men were able to attend the demonstrations alongside the police

In the evening, three officials of the police headquarters of Paris are suspended, suspected of having transmitted to Mr. Benalla, the evening of revelations of World a video of the scene, captured by CCTV cameras.

See also:
        
    
                Why the Benalla affair becomes a state affair
    

Traveling in the Dordogne, Emmanuel Macron displays him a resolute silence, being limited to ensure that "the Republic is unalterable" while In the House, there is confusion among LRM deputies in the face of an opposition denouncing "a state scandal" and a "1945 climate war of impunity" .

While MPs were in full review of the draft law on constitutional revision, several opposition politicians, including the Communist Sebastien Jumel or the leader of the deputies Republicans (LR), Christian Jacob, climb the niche in the afternoon to demand the creation of a commission of inquiry into the violence of May 1 in the capital.

The same evening, the members of the commission of the laws decide to acquire the prerogatives of a commission of investigation for a month in order to shed light on "the events that occurred on the occasion of the Paris demonstration of 1 ^and -May 2018".

See also:
        
    
                Benalla case: what powers for the commission of inquiry?
    

• July 20: the runaway

After twenty-four hours of crisis that rocked Macronie, the Elysée eventually give way to pressure and initiates a dismissal procedure against Mr. Benalla. Without giving more details, the Presidency justifies this decision by the fact that it, "for the purpose of proving his innocence, […] would have been addressed to a document of the police headquarters that he does not was not allowed to detain ".

In the same day, while MM. Benalla, Crase and the three cadres of the prefecture are placed in custody, Le Monde reveals that the former "Mr. Security" of the President of the Republic declared to be domiciled since July 9 in a housing of function, in a dependency of the Elysee, quai Branly.

Superior hierarchical of Mr. Benalla to the Elysee, the director of cabinet of Emmanuel Macron, Patrick Strzoda, is also heard like witness; it was he who had issued an authorization to Alexander Benalla to assist as "observer" to the Paris demonstration of May 1.

See also:
        
    
                Benalla: the mechanics of a state affair
    

If the inquiry proceeds, the parliamentary debates are paralyzed by the case. Opposition politicians demand the suspension of the constitutional debate, the deputies of the insubordinate France propose to all parliamentarians to table together a motion of censure of the government when still others accuse Gerard Collomb of "lies" asking that the Minister of the Interior, or even the Prime Minister, come to explain to elected officials. After his counterpart of the Assembly, the Senate Committee on Laws decides in turn to endow itself with the prerogatives of a commission of inquiry, for a period of six months.

• July 21-22: paralysis [19659003] Saturday morning, while five police custody is extended, the home of Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine) Mr. Benalla is raided. The investigation is then entrusted to an investigating judge and the suspects are all indicted and placed under judicial control. Five charges were brought against Mr. Benalla, including those of meeting violence that did not result in temporary incapacity for work and interference in the performance of a public function by performing acts reserved for him.

  For their part, the two alleged victims present on the video, identified, said they agreed to be heard, but later.

  On the benches of the Assembly, where the the constitutional reform continues to be disrupted, opposition MPs ask for explanations after discovering that Alexander Benalla enjoyed a badge access to the hemicycle since July 24, 2017. Faced with the impossibility to continue the debates serenely, the President of the Assembly, François de Rugy, cancels the night session.

  Read Françoise Fressoz's column:
          
      
            Benalla: Gerard Collomb, the weak man of the case
            

  Five days after the first revelations, the Benalla affair was right, at least temporarily, the draft constitutional revision wanted by Emmanuel Macron: the resumption of the session, Sunday morning, the government officially suspends the work until on new orders, after an unprecedented blockage of the National Assembly.

  In the evening, the entourage of the President communicates a laconic message, assuring that "there was not and there was will have no impunity " for facts judged " unacceptable ". After a meeting at the Elysee gathering several members of the government, a participant reports that the head of state "condemns both the behavior of the troublemakers and the dysfunctions that allowed Alexandre Benalla to do that". 19659031] [ad_2]
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