Initially, Taha Bouhafs had himself presented the reasons for his renouncement of a candidacy for the legislative elections, in the 14and constituency of the Rhône, in Vénissieux. The 25-year-old anti-racist activist and journalist, invested by the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes), believed to be the target of a campaign of denigration and harassment on social networks, had decided to throw in the towel.
On the night of May 9 to 10, in the press release announcing the withdrawal of his candidacy, he detailed: “Every day, a new slander, a new insult, a new death threat, a new accusation. (…) I would have liked to hold on… (…) Keep fighting. For my part, I tried but I can’t do it anymore. »
The journalist working for The mediawas highly contested, particularly by the far right, but also by part of the left, because of his media presence, often virulent, and his conviction at first instance for “public insult” against a police unionist whom he had dealt with“Service Arab”. He appealed against this judgment.
But the case experienced a new twist on Wednesday, May 11. According to information revealed by BFM-TV and Mediapart, it is a motive of a completely different nature that precipitated the renunciation of Taha Bouhafs. The follow-up committee against sexual and sexist violence of La France insoumise (LFI) was seized, Saturday, May 7, of a “testimony relating to alleged facts of sexual violence alleged against Taha Bouhafs”, according to a press release published by LFI, Wednesday, May 11. The “rebellious” party adds that Taha Bouhafs was “Faced with the charges he was facing on Monday, May 9” and that the person concerned has withdrawn his candidacy “by itself”, “even before the end of our internal procedure”.
“Intimidating Messages”
HAS MediapartTaha Bouhafs declared that this report falls into the list of “slanders” brought against him for several weeks to withdraw his candidacy. “I was already exhausted, the report was the last straw that led me to withdraw”, he explains. According to him, it was carried out by “an ex-girlfriend”.
According to the online news site, it was on the evening of the Nupes convention, in Aubervilliers, Saturday, May 7, that a detailed testimony was communicated to the body specializing in gender-based and sexual violence. On the other hand, Mediapart reveals that Caroline De Haas, feminist activist and supporter of Nupes, has received, for her part, “two different testimonies, from people who do not know each other”. She would have informed, on May 2, LFI.
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