His gesture had caused an uproar on the benches of the National Assembly on Tuesday. Since then, the arms of honor of the Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, have provoked cascading reactions. But the images of the minister in full execution of the decried gesture had not yet been unveiled. It's done Thursday since Paris Match managed to obtain the video of this moment at the National Assembly.
On the video, even if the gestures remain discreet, we can clearly see Éric Dupond-Moretti send several arms of honor towards the president of the Les Républicains group, Olivier Marleix.
This session at the National Assembly was devoted to the examination of a bill from the Renaissance group on the introduction of a mandatory ineligibility sentence against perpetrators of violence. The president of the LR group, Olivier Marleix, then intervened to recall the existence of several legal cases (convictions, indictments or investigations) concerning members of the presidential camp, including one targeting the Keeper of the Seals. It was during this intervention that Éric Dupond-Moretti performed three hands of honor.
According to the report of the services of the National Assembly, the Minister of Justice launched: "And the presumption of innocence, sir, what do you do with it? “, while sketching a finger of honor. Session president Élodie Jacquier-Laforge (MoDem) then reacted in a moment of confusion: "You don't have to do arm of honor in the precincts of the National Assembly, Minister. »
Faced with the outcry, Éric Dupond-Moretti had recognized and "regretted" the arms of honor, which according to him were "not addressed to the deputy Marleix", but to the attack "on the presumption of innocence", before to end up presenting his "apologies" to Olivier Marleix "as well as to all the national representation".
After the incident, several politicians called for the resignation of Éric Dupond-Moretti. On Thursday, the president of the RN Marine Le Pen group ruled that the Minister of Justice "cannot stay" in his post. She considered that "what is serious is that he benefits from a form of impunity on the part of Emmanuel Macron and Élisabeth Borne".
The executive condemned the behavior of the Keeper of the Seals but without sanctioning him. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne told the minister in a telephone interview that this "behaviour had no place in the hemicycle".
A lack of sanction signs "a kind of impunity" and sends "a disastrous signal", estimated the socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj. "I do not want anything, I want the President of the Republic to take his responsibilities in the face of this kind of behavior", replied Thursday on RFI Olivier Marleix, on the fate of the minister. "Either it bothers the President of the Republic or it doesn't bother him. If he doesn't mind it seems awkward to me," he added.
