bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

A French judge handed preliminary charges on Sunday to one of President Emmanuel Macron’s top security aides after video surfaced that showed him beating a protester at a May Day demonstration.
The initial charges against Alexandre Benalla, 26, came the same day French authorities opened a judicial investigation of the assault.
The multiple alleged offenses included violence, interfering in the exercise of public office and the unauthorized public display of official insignia.
The incident has ignited the first major political crisi of Macron’s tenure.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said Benalla and four others went before a judge on Sunday.
France’s Le Monde newspaper first made the video public on Wednesday. It showed Benalla, who handled Macron’s campaign security and remained close to him after he was elected, wearing a police helmet at a May 1 demonstration where the beating happened.

Surrounded by riot police, he brutally dragged a woman from the crowd and then repeatedly beat a young male protester on the ground.
The man was heard begging Benalla to stop. The officers did not intervene.
Benalla was fired by the presidential palace on Friday and investigators raided his house Saturday.
However, the president’s office has been heavily criticised since it revealed last week that it knew about the assault before last week.
Macron took office last year amid a pledge to restore integrity and transparency to the presidency.
Lawmakers were aghast to learn that Benalla initially received only a two-week suspension and still had an office in the presidential palace two and a half months after the beating instead of having been reported to judicial authorities.
Macron’s ‘militia’: security aide scandal draws in minister
Suspicion of a possible cover-up has surfaced over what appeared to be inconsistent answers from Macron’s office.
It said last week that since May, Benalla had been working in an administrative role instead of security. But Benalla was photographed by the president’s side as his bodyguard during France’s July 14 national holiday.
Macron’s political adversaries have seized the opportunity. Les Republicans party leader Laurent Wauquiez said the government was “trying to conceal a matter of state”.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen tweeted: “If Macron doesn’t explain himself, the Benalla affair will become the Macron affair.”

Macron has remained silent about the behaviour captured on video. Lawmakers plan to question Interior Minister Gerard Collomb this week as Macron’s government faces mounting criticism over how it initially disciplined Benalla.
Macron’s office has said Benalla only was supposed to be accompanying officers to the May protest as an observer.
Macron’s security chief fired after film emerges of protest brawl
The four others under investigation are Vincent Crase, who worked for Macron’s political party and was with on the day of the attack, as well as three police officers suspected of illegally passing footage of the events to Benalla earlier this week.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said it has asked for Benalla and Crase to be prohibited from possessing weapons or working in any public function.


How China is stepping into the cultural repatriation void left by a retreating US

Wine from ‘Bordeaux of China’ Ningxia is on the rise but can it rival French bottles?

Trump calls Nato ‘cowards’ over lack of support in Iran war, sends more troops to Mideast

Europe says no to Trump’s Iran demands: ‘not our war’

Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Macron feels heat as former aide appears in court over beating incident

The pressure is intensifying on the French president as some suspect a cover-up in Alexandre Benalla affair

Audrey Gadot, lawyer of former Elysee top security aide Alexandre Benalla, speaks on her phone as she arrives at the Palais de Justice courthouse of Paris on July 22, 2018, where Benalla as well as four other suspects will face a magistrate. The most damaging scandal of Emmanuel Macron's presidency deepened on July 21 as his interior minister faces a grilling over his response to a top security aide caught on video striking a young man at a Paris protest in May. Benalla, 26, was initially suspended without pay but on Friday Macron fired his former security aide, who was taken into custody suspected of unlawfully receiving police surveillance footage in a bid to clear his name. He is to face a magistrate on July 22, 2018, Paris prosecutors said. / AFP PHOTO / Zakaria ABDELKAFI

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, with his former aide Alexandre Benalla this month. Benalla was fired on Friday in connection with the beating of a protester in May. Photo: EPA/EFE

Macron’s ‘militia’: security aide scandal draws in minister, but leader still silent about violence

French security chief Alexandre Benalla on patrol during clashes with activists on the sidelines of the traditional May Day rally in Paris. Photo: AP

FILE PHOTO: French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb briefs the media ahead of an informal meeting of EU's Home Affairs Ministers in Innsbruck, Austria, July 12, 2018. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

epa06897886 (FILE) - French President Emmanuel Macron (R) flanked by security staff Alexandre Benalla (L) returns to his family house after cycling in Le Touquet, France, 17 June 2017 (reissued 19 July 2018). A video has been released on 19 July 2018 showing Alexandre Benalla, French President Emmanuel Macron's deputy chief of staff, wearing a riot helmet and police uniform, allegedly attacking protesters during street demonstrations on 01 May 2018. EPA-EFE/ETIENNE LAURENT

FILE - In this Wednesday April 26, 2017 file photo, Emmanuel Macron, right, is flanked by his bodyguard, Alexandre Benalla, left, outside the Whirlpool home appliance factory, in Amiens, northern France. Investigators have detained for questioning on Friday, July 20, 2018 one of President Emmanuel Macron's top security aides caught on camera beating a protester in May, a turn of events now evolving into a major political crisis for the president. The presidential Elysee Palace said it is taking steps to fire Alexandre Benalla, who was identified earlier this week by the newspaper Le Monde for beating a young protester during May Day protests while wearing a police helmet (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

Emmanuel Macron’s security chief fired after footage emerges of him beating protester

Emmanuel Macron, flanked by Alexandre Benalla, his head of security. Photo: Reuters

Emmanuel Macron’s security chief was filmed dressed as a policeman, beating up anti-government protester

Emmanuel Macron, flanked by his bodyguard, Alexandre Benalla. Photo: AP

News

World

Europe

The pressure is intensifying on the French president as some suspect a cover-up in Alexandre Benalla affair


French president is roundly criticised for his handling of the Alexandre Benalla affair.


France

Crime

Emmanuel Macron feels heat as former aide appears in court over beating incident

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The pressure is intensifying on the French president as some suspect a cover-up in Alexandre Benalla affair

The pressure is intensifying on the French president as some suspect a cover-up in Alexandre Benalla affair