The deputy La France insoumise (LFI) Eric Coquerel denounces in a forum at the Sunday newspaper (JDD) Sunday, July 3 “unfounded rumors” about his behavior towards women. “I make this forum to affirm that I have never exercised physical or psychological violence or coercion to obtain a report, which characterizes the gateway to criminal behavior in the field of gender-based and sexual violence”writes Mr. Coquerel, saying to himself “forced to speak for the first time”.
LFI’s committee against sexual violence defended deputy Eric Coquerel, who had just been elected chairman of the National Assembly’s finance committee, on Thursday against “rumors about his behavior with women”claiming to have never received a report about him.
“Several newsrooms have carried out journalistic investigations”underlines the deputy, a very close to the leader of LFI Jean-Luc Mélenchon: “Nothing ever came out for lack of having found testimony that could be related to criminal behavior, a fortiori criminal. This rumor was however revived by an investigation into sexism at LFI in the newspaper Causette in September 2018. The journalist evokes two brief anonymous testimonies about a deputy who is also anonymous guilty of slippages, bordering on harassment. I did not worry too much at the time of this article which was said to concern me, because it was obviously sloppy. »
“No public testimony”
Therefore, writes Eric Coquerel, “how to react to a rumor that is not based on any complaint, no report to LFI’s internal cell, despite frequent calls and press releases from LFI to be able to do so, no public testimony, no results of serious journalistic investigation in addition of five years but of which it is explained that only the silence of LFI and its refusal to carry out an investigation would explain it? »
The deputy also explains that he felt compelled to express himself, for the first time publicly, by an intervention on RTL on Thursday by author and activist Rokhaya Diallo. The latter had mentioned, without further details, “sources within LFI”.