The case finally comes to court. A complaint was filed Monday, July 4 against LFI deputy Eric Coquerel by Sophie Tissier, a former activist from La France insoumise, for “sexual harassment”. A difficult situation for a party which regularly denounces the presence in government of several personalities accused of sexual violence, such as the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin or the former Minister of Solidarity Damien Abad.
A potential paradox in which the opponents of LFI do not fail to rush: “IThey have cast opprobrium on dozens of political or media personalities in recent years and when it affects them, we no longer hear them, they are very uncomfortable”has the deputy RN Sébastien Chenu, questioned on franceinfo. On what arguments do the supporters of the new chairman of the finance committee rely to counter these accusations?
By disputing the charges
In a column published by The Sunday newspaperEric Coquerel affirms that he has no “never committed these behaviors which deserve to be publicly denounced”. To support his point, the member highlights before what he presents as flaws in the testimony of Sophie Tissier. On BFMTV, he explained that two witnesses “have invalidated” the words of his accuser, and that they “even contradicted them”. On TwitterLaure Darrigade, LFI activist who claims to be one of the witnesses in question, “repeats not to have seen such behavior in Eric Coquerel either during this evening or during events activists”.
The Sunday newspaper also reports that Sophie Tissier did not keep the SMS of the chosen one described as insistent. On the other hand, Eric Coquerel evokes for his part “text messages from Sophie Tissier” dated of “three weeks later” the evening of 2014, “Excellently nice to me, who joins me at the Fête de l’Humanité”. More generally, the linguist Laélia Véron, who was active in the Left Party, affirms in Mediapart that “Eric Coquerel’s ‘heavy’ reputation” circulating in activist circles lacked a factual basis: “It was mostly a reputation that was circulating, more than testimonials.”
Recalling that there were no complaints
The first line of defense of Eric Coquerel and the committee against sexist violence of La France insoumise concerned the absence of internal reporting to the party. “Our committee has never received any report concerning the deputy Eric Coquerel, for any fact whatsoever”, wrote the authority on June 30 in a press release. Sophie Tissier, who had first testified anonymously, finally made this report to the LFI committee on Sunday July 3.
The Chairman of the Finance Committee then wished to reduce the scope of the charges by the absence of legal proceedings. “You cannot at any time compare a minister who finds himself with effective complaints of rape [en référence à Damien Abad] and someone who for months suffered rumors”affirmed Eric Coquerel, Sunday, on BFMTV.
Faced with this argument, Sophie Tissier had assured franceinfo that she had already filed a pre-complaint online and finally filed a complaint for “sexual harassment” Monday morning. This line of defense is therefore undermined.
By explaining that there was no aggression
While refuting the accusations, the supporters of Eric Coquerel believe that they concern “inappropriate behavior, not criminal facts”, said Danielle Simonnet, MP for Paris, on franceinfo. The elected official, who initiated the creation of LFI’s sexist and sexual violence monitoring committee, underlines that the facts alleged against the deputy by Sophier Tissier “were not part of an assault”.
The former activist, who has become a figure in the “yellow vests” movement, detailed Eric Coquerel’s behavior to franceinfo, ranging “rather heavy flirting” at “inappropriate gestures”. But she herself clarified that it was not an attack. The facts of which the elected official is accused therefore constitute a crime, while Damien Abad is the subject of an investigation for “attempted rape”, which is a crime.
By denouncing a political coup
Eric Coquerel’s defenders finally believe that airing accusations without proof is especially likely to “harming the fight of women”as Sandrine Rousseau said on BFMTV on Friday July 1, at a time when thehe reproaches against the LFI deputy were still anonymous. “Gender-based and sexual violence is a serious enough subject for it not to be about rumors, things circulating on social networks”had also launched Manuel Bompard, the successor of Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the Bouches-du-Rhône, on BFMTV.
Since Sophie Tissier testified in person, Eric Coquerel’s supporters have put more emphasis on the risk of seeing these accusations mounted singled out by political opponents. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, for example, estimated on Twitter that “dActivists committed for years against LFI divert the meaning of the fight against gender-based violence to smear Eric Coquerel after his victory over the far right [en référence à son élection à la tête de la commission des finances]“. “This form of manipulative revenge seriously harms the fight of feminists”added the leader of La France insoumise in another tweet.