After a long and difficult silence, it is now that I can speak again to you, to give you the explanations I owe. Ask for the answers I owe. Two months after his withdrawal from the legislative election candidacy, and against the backdrop of allegations of sexual violence, Taha Bouhafs, journalist and activist, is breaking the silence.
On Tuesday, July 5, he published a six-page long press release on Twitter. He believes it is now the time to clarify and reveal the truth.
He opens a letter to rebellious France in which he criticizes the party's attitude and the management of this affair, in particular Clementine Autain. The former candidate explained that he had met the deputy the day before he withdrew from the legislative race.
He would have known that LFI had sent him a letter accusing him of sexual violence. "In shock, he asks me for clarification. I ask her for clarification but she refuses. I want to confront the accuser, or at the very least the accusations. He wrote, "She refuses to be confronted with the accuser again."
Clementine Autain is then accused of accusing him of asking him to publish a release explaining why he withdrew from the "racist attacks." According to reports, the MP said that he would support this version publicly.
Taha Bouhafs says he first refused to do so, and then claims that he was "already not in a position to lead even the slightest showdown." It was the straw. He accepted Clementine Autain’s proposal in the evening.
Two days later, after the LFI's internal investigation is published, the party issues a new press release in which it claims that Taha Bouhafs was confronted with the allegations of which he is the object. In an open letter, the person replied that "that's not true". "I don’t know what I’m being accused of. I have never been charged with these charges. Not on May 9, nor any other date.
The journalist reported that he has not received any news from his party since then, despite repeated requests. "I heard that there would be no investigation, checks or confrontation. Where is justice in this mess? [...] Report these things to the prosecution.
Taha Bouhafs demands that "a fair, equitable and transparent procedure be initiated so I can know the exact charges against me". "It is in honor of this justice that i come to you one final time, comrades. I won't hold on to any position. I don't want this matter to be forgotten or covered up. I ask for fair and equitable procedures where the fundamental adversarial principle is respected," he concluded, while LFI is worried by similar accusations against Eric Coquerel, chairman of the Finance Commission.
