Laetitia Avia may contest, the accusation persists and signs. This Thursday, she requested a one-year suspended prison sentence, a 10,000 euro fine and 5 years of ineligibility against the former LREM deputy, tried for moral harassment on seven of her former parliamentary assistants between 2017 and 2020. The trial of the former deputy for Paris and pillar of the majority, who vigorously contests any harassment, began on May 9 and 10 before being interrupted because of the busy schedule of the 31st correctional chamber of the Paris court.
In her indictment, the prosecutor considered that the elected official had “denigrated” and “humiliated” her collaborators, in particular by “jibes” and remarks aimed at sexual orientation or origins, that she had also established a “climate of fear” and demanded “excessive working hours” as well as undue tasks related to his personal life. The representative of the public prosecutor’s office underlined the “excess” and the “repetition” which emerge from the testimonies of the seven former collaborators, two of whom did not want to file a civil action. “They denounce the same words, the same facts”, underlined the magistrate.
Denouncing facts “as it happens”
“The particular situation of the deputy and his parliamentary assistant does not authorize the former to flout the fundamental labor rights of the latter. Even if we integrate this workload, this pressure, the fact remains that everyone remains in their place, ”said the prosecutor. She dismissed the thesis of a “political conspiracy”, according to which the article Mediapart which had unveiled the testimonies in 2020 had appeared while the deputy defended her law against online hatred in the Assembly.
For the prosecution, the plaintiffs on the contrary denounced the facts “over the water”, in a discussion group without the deputy and by seizing the ethics officer of the Assembly. “Fighting hate online is good, but being kind to your teams is good too. This is part of the attributes of the employer deputy and his office and it makes it possible to make his words and his actions consistent, ”she said in conclusion. The defense of Ms. Avia must plead Thursday evening.