Revelations about the questionable use of the Marianne fund create controversy. This envelope of two million euros, created after the assassination of Samuel Paty on the initiative of Marlène Schiappa, supports initiatives against Islamist radicalization on the internet. One association in particular is in the sights of the investigators.
Samuel Paty’s family is demanding explanations for the revelations about the Marianne fund. Launched on April 20, 2021 by Marlène Schiappa, then Minister Delegate for Citizenship to the Minister of the Interior, the Marianne fund aims to support the fight against Islamist radicalization on the internet. It was created in particular in response to the assassination of Samuel Paty, whose name circulated on the Internet after the teacher showed caricatures of Muhammad to his students. But a survey jointly conducted by L’Œil du 20 heures de France 2 and the magazine Mariannereleased at the end of March, reveals that certain dubious uses of the envelope of nearly two million euros allocated to the fund.
>> FRANCETV SURVEY. Prevention of radicalization: where is the money from the Marianne fund?
This case targets in particular one of the 17 associations, the Union of Physical Education and Military Service Preparation Societies (USEPPM). Chosen by the Radicalization Prevention Committee
in the spring of 2021, it receives a public subsidy of 266,000 euros, according to its former leaders, against the commitment to produce a republican counter-speech online against Islamist propaganda, via the iLaïc digital platform.
But according to the investigation by France Télévisions and Marianne, the examination of the bank accounts of the association shows that the two leaders of the USEPPM, its president and its administrator, were remunerated fraudulently on this fund, up to 120,000 euros, and that the reality of their work n is not established. Several members of the association’s office suspect embezzlement and they have decided to take legal action, with their lawyer Cyril Fergon. “No one within the association had ever heard of this request and the granting of this grant”he explains. “As for the work done in return for these salaries, we have nothing: it is this void that is worrying.” These suspicions are now the subject of an investigation by the General Inspectorate of Administration and a report to the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“I signed a contract in accordance with the law”
One of the two leaders of the association implicated, Mohamed Sifaoui, chose franceinfo to speak out and contest these accusations en bloc. Former administrator and intellectual guarantor of the USEPPM, he is known for his positions against Islamism and benefits from police protection. He produces a whole series of documents, such as the agreement with the State, his contract with the association, his pay slips. “Everything is at the disposal of justice”he told franceinfo. “I received 39,000 euros net for eleven months of very real work. I was editorial advisor on this project, I produced notes. Whenever it was necessary to give an orientation on the type of tweet or message on Facebook, I did it. I signed a contract according to the law.”
“I have 35 years of commitment against political Islam, I have been under police protection for 20 years, I risk my life every day. So it is totally indecent to suggest for a moment that I would be motivated by any financial attraction.”
mohamed sifaouiat franceinfo
The affair embarrasses the government: in a press release published on April 7, Marlène Schiappa refutes any cronyism, any favoritism in this affair. But for Virginie Leroy, the lawyer for the family of Samuel Paty, the minister must above all justify the monitoring of the use of these public funds, in particular on such sensitive subjects: “Writing blank checks for behind not monitoring what is happening, not checking whether what is actually produced is suitable for the purpose of the mission entrusted, is effective, it makes no sense and this is no match for what happened to Samuel Paty.”
According to Marlène Schiappa, checks have indeed taken place with the 17 associations which have benefited from the Marianne fund. Only one association, the USEPPM, would be in the sights of the General Inspectorate of Administration.