Alexandre Benalla told media he used diplomatic passports after his sacking last July

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A former security aide to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has been taken into police custody in an investigation into possible misuse of diplomatic passports.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said its original investigation of Alexandre Benalla’s passport use was extended to an alleged forgery involving an official document. The French presidency flagged up the document.

Benalla was fired in July 2018 after it emerged he had received a two-week suspension for beating a protester at a May Day rally. French authorities said he was asked to surrender his diplomatic passports when he was sacked.

Benalla acknowledged in a recent interview with the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche that he used them to travel for his personal convenience after being fired.

The beating revelations caused the first major crisis of Macron’s presidency.