Marianne Fund: Mohamed Sifaoui says he was “manipulated” by politicians

Mohamed Sifaoui, one of the two leaders of the main association benefiting from the Marianne Fund, claimed to have been “manipulated by political power” and regretted “having trusted Secretary of State Marlène Schiappa”, during a tense hearing in the Senate.

He was heard by the Senate Commission of Inquiry into the controversial management of the Marianne Fund launched in April 2021 by Marlène Schiappa, then Minister Delegate for Citizenship, six months after the assassination of Professor Samuel Paty. This fund, initially endowed with 2.5 million euros, aimed to finance associations promoting the values ​​of the Republic to fight against “separatism” and radical Islam on social networks.

“The first mistake I made was trusting Ms. Schiappa”

The association of which Mohamed Sifaoui was director of operations, the Union of Physical Education and Military Preparation Societies (USEPPM), was the main beneficiary of the fund: 355,000 euros were to be granted to it. “The first mistake I made was trusting Ms. Schiappa (currently Secretary of State for the Social and Solidarity Economy and Associative Life, editor’s note), her teams, to have dark”, declared Mohamed Sifaoui who considered “to have been trapped and exploited”. “I hope they did it unconsciously,” he adds.

A posture he holds for the entire audition. He does not want to be, directly or indirectly, compared or assimilated to the minister whom he even taxes as a coward. “Engaged people sometimes have this naivety to believe that others are as committed as they are. When you are faced with cynicism, you sometimes forget that you can be manipulated by political power. That was my case,” he said. -he throws. “No, Marlène Schiappa was not my friend”, “she will be even less so tomorrow”, he had said before, adding “I do not respect people who have no courage”.

Marlène Schiappa “is not guilty, but she has a guilty attitude”

Marlène Schiappa, who was auditioned on Wednesday, “is not guilty, but she has a guilty attitude”, also declared Mohamed Sifaoui: “It’s weird she has nothing to reproach herself for”, according to him. She “is not guilty of embezzlement, nor of any cronyism,” he said. He added, however, that she was “responsible in his eyes”, “politically speaking”, but without developing further.

Mohamed Sifaoui, who was, after the start of the Marianne Fund, a full-time employee of the USEPPM, announced that he had, moreover, at the same time benefited from a consultant contract with the CIPDR, the Interministerial Committee prevention of delinquency and radicalization, the organization managing the fund within the Ministry of the Interior, under the authority of the Minister. This contract was a “package”, “of 39,500 euros excluding tax”, from “November 2020 until January 2023”, he said in front of the senators.