Predator Files: President Macron, Alexandre Benalla and a French firm's attempts to sell spyware to Saudi Arabia
Mediapart is part of an international investigation called 'Predator Files' which has revealed how French group Nexa sold the spy software 'Predator' to three autocratic regimes. The same media investigation shows that, after making direct contact with President Emmanuel Macron, the company used his former bodyguard and personal security adviser Alexandre Benalla to try to sell spyware to Saudi Arabia. This was despite the murder of Saudi regime critic and journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Yet 18 months after these deeply embarrassing facts for the Élysée were unearthed, a judicial investigation has stalled. Yann Philippin and Antton Rouget report.
TheThe international 'Predator Files' investigation has revealed a highly-sensitive affair involving Emmanuel Macron, his sacked former bodyguard Alexandre Benalla and an apparent attempt to sell spy software to Saudi Arabia. The journalistic investigation has been carried out by fifteen international media coordinated by the European investigations network EIC and based on confidential documents obtained by Mediapart and the German publication Der Spiegel.
