Tried again before the Paris Court of Appeal, in the case which cost him his place in charge of mission at the Elysée, Alexandre Benalla made amends, and recognized some of the facts of which he is accused.
His appeal trial was due to be held in January, but was postponed for health reasons. Alexandre Benalla found himself in court again on Friday June 9, retried before the Paris Court of Appeal in particular for the violence of May 1, 2018. The former Elysée official was sentenced at first instance to to three years in prison, including one for molesting five people on the sidelines of the demonstration, wearing a police helmet, when he only attended the parade as an “observer”.
The former Elysée project manager is questioned, video in support. We see him in the Place de la Contrescarpe molesting a protester on the ground. “I had awkward, unfortunate gestures, concedes the defendant, but it was in order to challenge him, I was trying to do well. I oppose any willful violence.” We also see him in the Jardin des Plantes, hooded sweatshirt over his shoulders, walking with an arrested man. The situation is calm, contrary to what Vincent Crase, his co-defendant, says. The former security gentleman of the En Marche party, a friend of Alexandre Benalla, describes a climate of civil war. Alexandre Benalla argues: “Yes, I was doing an armbar to the arrested man, but no, I was not particularly violent.” The ex-shadow adviser simply concedes that he should have handed over the arrested man more quickly to the police, with whom he was as a simple observer.
“I lost all credibility”
Alexandre Benalla played the card of humility in a spectacular exercise in contrition. Charcoal gray suit, white shirt, navy blue tie and rectangular glasses, he frankly admitted some of the facts at the start of the trial: the use of his diplomatic passports after his dismissal from the Elysée, a forgery in writing for a service passport. And especially the illegal carrying of a handgun, visible in a selfie taken in a restaurant in Poitiers: “I deeply regret this photo, he said. I lacked discernment and professionalism. When I said it was a water pistol during the investigation, I lost all credibility.”
But the former shadow adviser, on the other hand, maintains his call on the heart of the case, namely his violence during the demonstration on May 1, 2018 in Paris, with five people molested. Alexandre Benalla recalls that his presence was authorized. On the other hand, he regrets having offered Vincent Crase to accompany him without authorization, “A monumental mistake”, he lets go. As for his line of defense and his reactions at the time of the affair, Alexandre Benalla evokes blunders, youthful mistakes, he who is 31 years old today against 26 at the material time.
Vincent Crase describes himself as an outcast
Alexandre Benalla was also more specific about his current life. The former project manager at the Élysée Palace now works for a Swiss NGO specializing in crisis management, as an adviser to the president, whose agenda he notably manages. With responsibility for files such as the war in Ukraine, earthquake in Turkey for a net salary of 7,350 Swiss francs (just over 7,500 euros).
As for Vincent Crase, he says he is unemployed and without income, helped by his parents, in the midst of a divorce. The former gendarmerie reservist now lives in Dakar, and explains that his name is a serious handicap for finding a job. But not only: a mortgage was refused to him. Vincent Crase describes an outcast life since the case and hopes to be a farmhand this summer thanks to a friend harvesting green beans.