Macron under fire as security aide detained in assault inquiry

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron, trying to curb what has become the most damaging scandal of his presidency, on Friday fired a top security aide who has been taken into custody after videos emerged showing him strike a young man during a demonstration in Paris in May, reports AFP.

The Elysee Palace told AFP that Alexandre Benalla would be dismissed after “new elements” emerged in the case, namely that he is suspected of unlawfully receiving police surveillance footage in a bid to prove his innocence.

A source close to the inquiry also said that three officers, including two high-ranking officials, have also been suspended on suspicion of providing the footage to Benalla.

He is facing charges of violence by a public official, impersonating a police officer and the illegal use of police insignia, and complicity in unauthorised use of surveillance footage, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

French daily Le Monde published this week a video taken by smartphone showing Benalla manhandling and striking a protester while wearing a police helmet and visor during a May 1 demonstration.

In a second video published by the paper late Thursday, Benalla — who has never been a policeman — is also seen violently wrestling a young woman to the ground.

 

Macron under fire as security aide detained in assault inquiry

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron, trying to curb what has become the most damaging scandal of his presidency, on Friday fired a top security aide who has been taken into custody after videos emerged showing him strike a young man during a demonstration in Paris in May, reports AFP. The Elysee Palace told AFP that Alexandre Benalla would be dismissed after new elements emerged in the case, namely that he is suspected of unlawfully receiving police surveillance footage in a bid to prove his innocence. A source close to the inquiry also said that three officers, including two high-ranking officials, have also been suspended on suspicion of providing the footage to Benalla. He is facing charges of violence by a public official, impersonating a police officer and the illegal use of police insignia, and complicity in unauthorised use of surveillance footage, the Paris prosecutors office said. French daily Le Monde published this week a video taken by smartphone showing Benalla manhandling and striking a protester while wearing a police helmet and visor during a May 1 demonstration. In a second video published by the paper late Thursday, Benalla who has never been a policeman is also seen violently wrestling a young woman to the ground.