A former bodyguard of French President, Emmanuel Macron has handed over diplomatic passports that he kept in spite of being sacked in 2018 when he was accused of assaulting protesters.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed on Wednesday that Alexandre Benalla had given the passports to police investigators, who were still probing whether he misused them.
Investigative news site Mediapart alleged in December 2018 that Benalla had used the diplomatic passports to enter several African countries and Israel since being fired from the Elysee Palace.
Newspaper Le Monde had earlier reported that Benalla had travelled to Chad in early December, meeting President Idriss Deby weeks before Macron was himself due on an official visit.
The Elysee has denied that Benalla retains any link with it.
In December, the former bodyguard told newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that “I may have been wrong to use those passports”.
Benalla was dismissed in July after Le Monde identified him as a man seen wearing a police helmet and apparently assaulting a man at a May Day protest.
(dpa/NAN)
