Macron’s former bodyguard to face criminal trial

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) - Alexandre Benalla, former head of security at the office of French president Emmanuel Macron, will face trial in a criminal court in Paris for wrongfully using diplomatic passports, local media reported citing judicial sources.

He was placed in a correctional facility for the trial on Jan. 25. The Paris Prosecutor's Office had asked Benalla to appear in court over the allegations last September.

Following his indictment in the 2018 case for violence against civilian protesters during May day demonstrations, Benalla was dismissed from the Elysee.

An investigation in January 2019 charged him for traveling on the diplomatic passport for his new role as an international security consultant, a report in the Le Monde newspaper said.

It added that last February, the investigating judges indicted him for “forgery and use of forgery” on the service passport, on a fraudulent letterhead of the Elysee, which was not signed.

The 30-year-old has also been part of security campaigns of former president Francois Hollande, and headed Macron’s security since his presidential campaign in 2017. Besides, he is under investigation in five other judicial inquiries.