“Taha killed me”, he said on Twitter. Lawyer Arié Alimi, who has defended militant journalist Taha Bouhafs in several cases, announces that he will no longer be his lawyer following accusations of sexual violence against the former legislative candidate.
“Everyone knows the ties that bind me to him. The friendship that we have had and which has grown in the struggles and the procedures that we have carried out together. However, I chose not to be his lawyer, because our proximity is incompatible with the distance necessary for the exercise of the legal profession, ”wrote the lawyer in a post published on Le Club de Mediapart this Thursday.
Last week, La France Insoumise announced the opening of an internal investigation after accusations of harassment and sexual violence against journalist and activist Taha Bouhafs, who had been invested by LFI in Vénissieux (Rhône) as a candidate. from the New Popular Ecologist and Social Union (Nupes) to the legislative elections.
“We must believe the victims”
Shortly before this announcement, the militant journalist had declared his withdrawal from the campaign, due to “slander”, “insults”, “threats” and “accusations” aimed at him.
Charges that lawyer Arié Alimi, despite his closeness to his client, wants to take seriously. “We must believe the victims, all the victims, in principle, as a political cry, because it is the one and only paradigm to change the condition of all women without waiting for the too slow change of our society”, he defends .
He claims, however, “that an investigation be carried out”, “whether of a journalistic, political or judicial nature, while protecting the anonymity of the said victims”, “so that I, friend or ordinary citizen, can make a idea and position myself in relation to these accusations and in relation to him”.
The Taha Bouhafs case is controversial within LFI, criticized by its opponents for having handled the case too slowly. The elected members of the party claim to have been “irreproachable”.
