Macron’s security aide facing charges as heat rises over assault

PARIS: A former top security aide for French President Emmanuel Macron was brought before a judge Sunday after videos emerged of him striking a young man during a demonstration, a scandal which has derailed parliamentary proceedings as lawmakers press the government for explanations.Alexandre Benalla, 26, was fired Friday after footage was released of him hitting the man at least twice as riot police looked on while breaking up a May Day protest in Paris.Benalla, who was wearing a police helmet with visor as well as a police armband, is facing charges of violence by a public official, impersonating a police officer and complicity in unauthorised use of surveillance footage.Three police officers, including two high-ranking officials, have been suspended on suspicion they illegally gave Benalla video surveillance footage last week so he could try to clear his name.His associate Vincent Crase, an employee in Macron’s Republic on the Move (LREM) party who also attended the protest, is also facing charges.The scandal has become the most damaging for Macron since his election last year on pledges to restore transparency and integrity to the nation’s highest office in order to ensure a “republic of responsibility”.In response to the outcry sparked by the videos, Macron’s office said Benalla was punished in May with a two-week suspension and transferred from security duties to an administrative role.Yet he has continued to be seen in Macron’s security details since then, while opposition parties accuse the president of covering up an assault that should have been reported to prosecutors.“Why the devil did he insist on protecting a second-rank employee who should have been kicked out of the Elysee months ago?” rightwing daily Le Figaro wrote in an editorial Sunday.Interior Minister Gerard Collomb is to appear before parliament on Monday morning, with some MPs warning they will demand his resignation if he knew about the incident but did not say anything.After publishing the first video of the incident last Wednesday, French daily Le Monde posted a second video showing Benalla violently wrestling a young woman to the ground during the scuffles on a square near the Rue Mouffetard, a picturesque Left Bank street.

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