Julien Bayou (EELV): Sandrine Rousseau "went too far"

"She went too far. And everyone measures it", declares the deputy who resigned from the head of EELV and withdrew from the co-presidency of the environmental group in the National Assembly, a few days after accusations of psychological violence against an ex-companion made by Ms. Rousseau on a television set, accusations which he disputes.

Absent Monday at the return to parliament, Mr. Bayou assures that he will be on the bench of his group on Tuesday.

"Feminism, yes of course, always. McCarthyism is a whole other subject. It is to say: I have lists of men, it is to make accusations that you cannot contradict because there is no investigation", develops Mr. Bayou, evoking a "deviation" of feminism and "a pathetic spectacle".

"We do not throw at prime time the psychological situation of someone who is suffering or accusations without elements", he believes.

"The private sector should not be used for political purposes", continues the deputy from Paris.

He recalls having asked four times to be heard by the internal cell at EELV which had self-seized after an email from his former companion. Since then, the latter, who has not been heard either in this context, officially asked on Monday to be heard "under certain conditions ensuring the security of the testimonies".

But for Julien Bayou, this cell that his party was the first to set up following the Baupin affair, was "necessary but it is fundamentally insufficient": this type of structure "does not replace justice". "The most serious sanction that it can pronounce is the exclusion of EELV. It cannot claim either to say the right or to pronounce repair. We stumble on an impasse".

He also questions its effectiveness on the case of the leader of the party: "Would I be cleared, it looks like there was collusion. Would I be sanctioned, it would be interpreted as a settling of scores before the congress" party in December.

Asked about the revelations of Liberation that he was the subject of "surveillance" by a group of feminist activists, he claims to have "hesitated to file a handrail" in 2019. "I had to ask a militant woman to stop investigating me and especially to peddle rumors and accusations without proof", he specifies.

"I see it as instrumentalization for a settlement of scores," he summarizes.