An MP in Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche! Party faces charges after a violent argument left a rival politician with serious injuries.
A conversation between M’jid El Guerrab and Boris Faure turned into a fight on 30 August, after they met by chance in Broca Street, according to several witnesses.
Mr El Guerrab is alleged to have hit Mr Faure twice on the head with a motorbike helmet.
Mr Faure collapsed and was later taken to hospital where he was operated on and spent five days recovering in intensive care.
Mr El Guerrab was placed in custody after an investigation into “aggravated violence”.
His lawyer Yassine Yakouti said: “Mr El Guerrab naturally regrets the turn of events.”
On Facebook, Mr El Guerrab announced he was taking leave of absence from En Marche! (LREM) “to allow the inquiry to proceed… I hope that Mr Faure will be able to recover quickly.”
In his defence, Mr El Guerrab said he had responded to a “provocation” by Mr Faure, who is alleged to have called the French-Moroccan MP a “dirty Arab”.
This was confirmed by a witness at the scene, according to weekly Marianne.
Mr Faure’s family called the accusations “laughable and insulting”.
Sources close to Mr Faure also denied the accusations, saying, “the victim disputes any attitude and violent remarks against Mr El Guerrab”.
The 34-year-old MP’s future at En Marche! is now in doubt. Mr El Guerrab was elected in June 2017 as a member of the National Assembly for French people living abroad, including the Maghreb and parts of West Africa.
Arnaud Leroy, a member of the collegiate leadership, said Mr El Guerrab was requested to attend an interview next week at party headquarters to hear his version of events.
“We take note of the fact that he is taking leave of the party, but we must act. We will see what the investigation comes up with,” Mr Leroy said, according to Le Figaro.
Mr Leroy went on to condemn all forms of violence within the En Marche! party.
Mr El Guerrab acknowledged that he had strong disagreements with Mr Faure since the elections in June.
Mr El Guerrab left the Socialist party to join En Marche!, French President Macron’s new party last year, which was the source of the antagonism between the two politicians.
Mr Faure, first secretary of the Federation of French Foreigners of the Socialist Party, was the campaign manager of the candidate beaten by Mr El Guerrab in the recent French parliamentary elections.
