According to French magazine “Closer”, the victim of an assault by French President Emmanuel Macron’s top security advisor is a Greek national who had travelled to Paris for the May 1 protests. The assault caused a firestorm in the French media, as Alexandre Benalla, President Macron’s close security aide, who is reported to have been fired, was seen in a video assaulting the man in disguise in a popular tourist district of Paris. The report in Closer says the protester was arrested and questioned for four hours.
The French magazine claims the Greek protester gave false id details to the French authorities while in custody, saying he was a Greek basketball player before he was released.
The video shows Benalla grabbing the protester by the neck and stomping on him on the ground.
Benalla is believed to be facing an array of criminal charges including ‘violence committed in a group by a person with a public service mission’.