The patron saint of RN deputies denied any proximity to Axel Loustau and Olivier Duguet, present in the procession of a far-right gathering which included fascist symbols. The two men nevertheless had functions in a micro-party close to Marine Le Pen.
Close the bench. After an ultra-right demonstration in Paris this Saturday which aroused emotion on the left and in the ranks of the presidential majority, Marine Le Pen is distancing herself. Two former lieutenants of the National Rally were present in the procession, according to information from Mediapart.
“They are not my relatives. All the people who, at one time or another in their existence and in the 50 years of existence of the National Front, have had a responsibility as accountants or even elected officials, are not part of of my relatives”, replied the patron saint of the deputies of the RN this Tuesday on South Radio.
Axel Loustau, head of finance for the 2017 campaign
In the viewfinder: the demonstrator Axel Loustau. This 50-year-old studied with Marine Le Pen in the 1990s at the law faculty of Assas. He was then the treasurer of Jeanne, a micro party close to the leader for ten years while being regional councilor for Île-de-France from 2015 to 2021. A time president of the RN federation of Hauts-de -Seine, he led the financial unit of the candidate’s campaign during the 2017 presidential election.
In full operation of notabilisation of the movement, now endowed with 88 deputies in the National Assembly, no question for the former leader of the movement to claim the slightest proximity with people who appeared in this procession. 500 people took part, dozens of them masked in black or with the Celtic cross flag, a fascist symbol.
This procession is organized by the May 9 Committee every year since the death of Sébastien Deyzieu, a nationalist activist who died accidentally at the age of 22 on May 7, 1994 after a demonstration by several far-right movements “against American imperialism”.
A demonstration organized by the Gud
The young man had taken refuge on the roof of a building in Paris to escape the police before falling to his death. He has since acquired martyr status for part of the French far right, which therefore meets annually.
The youth section of the National Front (since become the RN) contributes with the Gud, a far-right student association, a time dissolved before being reactivated in recent years, to the organization of the rally.
The presence of Axel Loustau is all the worse since he is also a close friend of Frédéric Chatillon, a very close friend of Marine Le Pen, former head of Gud. The two men were in trouble with the justice system for the 2012 legislative elections. They were suspected of forcing candidates to buy campaign kits before being reimbursed for their use by the state as campaign expenses. If Frédéric Chatillon was sentenced on appeal to 30 months in prison, Axel Loustau was released.
“We all end up being close to each other”
In the procession, was also Olivier Duguet. Also a former member of the Gud during his youth, the man was treasurer then deputy treasurer of Jeanne, before being convicted in the context of the campaign kits case.
“We have to stop with (the accusations of proximity). This is the far left method used by Mediapart, whereby we all end up being close to each other by capillarity. We have to stop with that”, still attacked Marine Le Pen.
The demonstration, authorized by the prefecture, has caused a stir as several gatherings have been banned in recent weeks in the face of protests against the pension reform. This Monday, on the occasion of the May 8 commemorations, all gatherings were banned around the Champs-Élysées and in Lyon, in the Montluc district where Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Jean Moulin.
“Insofar as this demonstration had not caused, in previous years, any overflow or disturbance to public order, the prefect was not justified in issuing a prohibition order against it”, justified the prefecture in a press release.
