Policy. Insubordinate France puts an end to the internal procedure against Taha Bouhafs

La France insoumise has closed the procedure of its internal cell dedicated to sexual and gender-based violence against former journalist Taha Bouhafs, forced to give up his candidacy for the 2022 legislative elections in the face of accusations by women.

After the withdrawal of a first accuser in the procedure before the Committee of Respect for Principles (CRP) of the movement, in February, the second accuser indicated that she did not wish to file a complaint or confront Taha Bouhafs with her accusations, indicated a source close to her. from management, confirming information from BFM TV.

“In accordance with our internal rules and respect for normal procedure, the CRP lifts the precautionary measure and does not take new measures,” said this source.

“We welcome today this decision that we have been waiting for too long,” reacted in a press release the lawyers of Taha Bouhafs, Me William Bourdon, Raphaël Kempf and Vincent Brengarth.

“We recall that Taha Bouhafs, who has always claimed his innocence, has not been the subject of any complaint, nor of any legal proceedings”, write the advice. “Yet he was excluded from the legislative elections, from his political movement and was the subject of a form of social and professional banishment because of which he has been unemployed for a year”. They conclude: “May this whole story make us reflect collectively on the dangers of parallel justices”.

The case had caused a stir in the middle of the legislative campaign, raising the question of the merits for the parties to substitute themselves for justice. MP Clémentine Autain, among other rebels, had defended the need for internal procedures to better support the words of potential victims, believing that justice was fallible in this area.

For his part, Taha Bouhafs had denounced the internal procedure, indicating that he had never been confronted with the accusations and therefore had not been able to defend himself against them. On his Twitter account, he indicated that he did not wish to rejoin the party: “after all that has happened I cannot rejoin this movement, neither this one, nor another”. “The important thing for me today is to rebuild myself, personally and professionally,” he added.