In Marseille, Sébastien Delogu speaks outside City Hall on June 2, 2024, after a demonstration in support of Gaza. The tricolor sash highlights his term as a member of Parliament. Credits: AN2303 / Wikimedia Commons.
LFI lawmaker Sébastien Delogu is summoned on November 13, 2026, for contempt after more than eight hours in police custody in Marseille. The procedure follows an altercation on August 24 with three plainclothes officers who had come to arrest a suspect in his building. Cross-complaints and conflicting accounts still leave open the question of exactly how events unfolded.
Police Custody Followed by a Summons
On Thursday, August 27, Sébastien Delogu arrived around 2 p.m. at Marseille’s central police station, where he believed he would be heard voluntarily. The prosecutor’s office announced that he had been placed in police custody in a flagrante delicto investigation for “contempt toward a person holding public authority.” The measure was lifted around 11 p.m.
His attorney, Me Yonès Taguelmint, confirmed the November 13 summons to AFP. The elected official is to be tried for contempt. This charge remains an allegation subject to the court: it is not a finding of guilt.
Two Still Incompatible Versions
The altercation dates back to Monday, August 24. Three plainclothes officers were then looking for a man suspected of stealing a watch in the building where the lawmaker lives. That suspect was later arrested without incident in a nearby apartment.
Sébastien Delogu says he asked the officers to prove they were police officers. He accuses one of them of insulting him, then shoving him, and filed a complaint for intentional violence. A hearing transcript and an incident report reviewed by Libération present the officers’ opposing version. According to them, the lawmaker blocked their entry, hurled insults, and warned the suspect of their presence. These conflicting accusations do not make it possible to establish the full sequence of events.
Flagrante Delicto and Parliamentary Immunity
Article 26 of the Constitution governs measures depriving or restricting a parliamentarian’s liberty. In principle, they require authorization from the bureau of the chamber to which the member belongs. However, this authorization is not required in the case of a flagrant crime or offense, the framework invoked by the prosecutor’s office in this investigation. That does not mean Sébastien Delogu’s immunity would have been “lifted.” The text settles neither the legality of the procedure nor the substance of the case.
On August 26, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez expressed his support for the police officers. He nonetheless acknowledged that the investigation had to determine the exact circumstances. The follow-up to the lawmaker’s complaint is not yet publicly known.
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