Death of Quentin Deranque: Raphaël Arnault questioned but not charged
LFI Deputy Raphaël Arnault was questioned by counter-terrorism services on 27 October as a witness in the murder case of nationalist activist Quentin Deranque. His lawyer states that he has neither been charged nor given assisted witness status.
Arnault questioned by counter-terrorism services
According to BFM TV and judicial sources, LFI Deputy Raphaël Arnault is not under investigation at this stage in the murder case of nationalist activist Quentin Deranque, who was killed in February in Lyon. On 27 October, Arnault was questioned by the counter-terrorism sub-directorate (SDAT) in Levallois-Perret as a witness, and not as a suspect.
Chirinne Ardakani, the deputy's lawyer, clarified at a press conference on 3 November that her client "is neither charged nor under assisted witness status". She indicated that the matters for which Arnault was questioned concerned "relatively minor facts" and did not relate to the murder of 12 February or preparatory acts of violence.
Request from the victim's family
The previous week, the lawyer for Deranque's family, Fabien Rajon, had asked the investigating judges in Lyon that Raphaël Arnault be questioned for "criminal association" on account of his proximity to several people charged in the case. Rajon believed that "the scope of criminal association retained so far by the judges seems too narrow" as it was limited solely to those present during the incident.
Context of the murder
Several former members of La Jeune Garde, the anti-fascist group founded by Arnault, and two former parliamentary collaborators have been charged in the murder of Quentin Deranque. On 12 February, this 23-year-old nationalist activist, close to Action française (a royalist far-right group), was beaten during clashes between far-left and far-right activists in Lyon. Transported to hospital with significant head trauma, he succumbed to his injuries two days later.
Source: BFM TV