Activist journalist Taha Bouhafs, supported by La France Insoumise (LFI), has withdrew his candidacy for the legislative elections in Vénissieux on Tuesday May 10, 2022 (Rhône), denouncing “unprecedented attacks“, while the constituency is coveted by the PCF. But the next day, a major twist arose: the LFI party announced that it had opened an internal investigation after accusations of sexual violence and harassment against the controversial activist. While the New Popular Ecological and Social Union had managed to come together around a common project for the elections of June 12 and 19, this affair is undermining the party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Who is Taha Bouhafs, the scandal man?
On April 29, Taha Bouhafs celebrated his 25th birthday, celebrating the hypothesis that a young man from a modest background and of immigration could dream of being in the Assembly. Originally from Aïn Beïda in Algeria, he arrived in France at the age of 4 where he was then naturalized. With his family – his father and mother were teachers in their country of origin – he settled in Échirolles, in Isère. His two grandfathers, Berbers, were veterans of the National Liberation Front (FLN) during the war of independence. While his parents are struggling to find a stable job, the young Taha is moving towards a professional baccalaureate in electronics, but the path does not convince him and at 16, he slams the door of high school.
Earning his living through odd jobs, Taha Bouhafs embarked on the journalism and become more and more involved in the political activism. Thus he carried legislative candidate in the 2nd constituency of Grenoble in June 2017only 20 years. Based in Paris, he is very active on Twitter. During the student demonstrations in April, he stood out on social networks by denouncing the evacuation of the faculty of Tolbiac by the CRS. The unfounded rumors and testimonies that he had relayed on the presence of a seriously injured person had earned him the target of a violent campaign of denigration.
But if it is not unanimous, it makes a a bang with the Benalla affair. He is behind the video of May 1, 2018 where we see a man wearing a helmet but without a uniform who grabs a young woman by the neck before attacking a young man on the ground. The scene is filmed and the video quickly went viral when the newspaper The world revealed that the attacker was none other than Alexandre Benalla, a collaborator of Emmanuel Macron in charge of his security.