2023-06-07 16:37:50
He was central to the management of the controversial Fonds Marianne. Little known to the general public, the prefect and secretary general of the interministerial committee for the prevention of delinquency and radicalization (CIPDR) Christian Gravel left office on Tuesday, after accusations pointing to the opaque management of this fund of 2.5 million euros. This departure follows the publication of a severe report by the General Inspectorate of Administration (IGA) denouncing “privileged treatment” towards one of the associations benefiting from the famous fund.
Partisan of a rigid secularism, Christian Gravel49, took his first steps in politics alongside a certain Manuel Valls, at the time Lionel Jospin’s spokesperson at Matignon during the third cohabitation. Having become one of his trusted men, this graduate in political science and sociology in Nanterre, finally follows the elected official to the town hall of Évry (Essonne), where he will officiate for almost ten years, as chief of staff. Security issues will be his main files.
Behind the “Stop Jihadism” campaign
The career of this martial arts enthusiast, seven times French champion of viet vo dao – a Vietnamese martial art – took a turn in 2012, the year of the election of François Hollande. The socialist offers to follow him to the Élysée: Christian Gravel agrees to manage his communication. A post that will leave some traces. In the lead, that of the catastrophic management of the Leonarda case. The huge media hiccup around the expulsion of a Roma immigrant family, including a minor girl, will not prevent him from continuing his ascent.
Two years later, he took over as head of the Government Information Service. A mission that forces him to think about how to counter the Islamist discourse that is attracting more and more young French people. While the number of departures to Syria and Iraq is increasing dangerously, his team is launching the “Stop Jihadism” campaign. At the time, he chose to focus prevention on the Internet rather than television or radio. A platform offers documents and videos of “counter-propaganda” for people in the process of radicalization and advice for relatives. A toll-free number opens.
“When you see the quality of the tools that are those of the Islamic State, especially on the web, it was more than ever necessary to invest in this area. This war – since it is a war – is also being played out in the field of information. Or misinformation, for that matter,” he justified to Franceinfo, during the launch of the campaign.
Supporter of an offensive secularism
The following year, his mentor, Manuel Valls, called him back and appointed him special prefect on the proposal of the Minister of the Interior, Bernard Cazeneuve. Clearly, the title of prefect belongs to him, without attaching it to a specific department. His appointment, despite a less academic career – Christian Gravel did not do the ENA – sounds like “a favor” for the former reserve colonel, observes the press at the time.
Then, the consecration arrives in October 2020. Now very identified with the themes of prevention and radical Islam, Christian Gravel takes the head of the interministerial committee for the prevention against delinquency, radicalization and sectarian aberrations (CIPDR). A cell that brings together around forty people, including around ten employees of the Miviludes, now absorbed. A timely appointment, at a time when the government precisely wishes to make fight against “separatism” one of his end-of-term markers.
Under his leadership, the structure is more offensive on issues of secularism and separatism. It intensifies its monitoring, intervenes on social networks to counter the discourse of associations deemed too complacent with regard to radical Islam. “We want to stifle all underground networks. It is fascinating work, one of the most noble missions. I want to be worthy of the confidence placed in me by the President of the Republic,” he confided last year to the Figaro.
A new battle is now announced for this follower of the krav-maga and Thai boxing. Implicated in the management of the Marianne Fund, Christian Gravel was heard by the Senate Commission of Inquiry which had pinned him for not seeing transmitted a document relating to the projects selected within the framework of the allocation of subsidies. Interviewed for more than three hours, the person concerned specified that the management of this fund stemmed from a “political order” from Marianne Schiappathen Minister Delegate for Citizenship.
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