Elected leader of the environmentalists in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) for the municipal elections in March 2026, Hassen Hammou announced on Thursday that he was withdrawing pending the outcome of the judicial process against him for corruption of a minor.
“To protect the collective, I announce that I will leave my leadership role until the deliberations,” Hassen Hammou declared this Thursday on his X account.
“I reaffirm my innocence and I hope that justice will shed light on this matter,” he emphasizes. “I will return more determined than ever to continue our work as soon as the situation allows.”
The EELV political office interviewed Hassen Hammou, the party told AFP on Thursday afternoon. “After this hearing, the executive secretary will meet tomorrow (Friday, editor’s note) morning to make a decision,” added the EELV.
A “political trial”
Hassen Hammou, a member of the party’s executive political leadership, will be summoned on November 13 before the criminal court, as revealed on Wednesday by La Provence. He is accused of “corruption of a minor through electronic communication”, facts that he denies.
The former regional spokesman for Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) had just been chosen on Tuesday to lead the return of the environmentalists to the left-wing unity coalition during the municipal elections of March 15 and 22 in Marseille. Questioned this Wednesday by AFP about the facts of which he is accused, Hassen Hammou denounced a “political trial.”
If he had met a woman, he did not know “her minority,” he said. During that encounter, he said he was “attacked by two people” and was the victim of a robbery. For these events, these two attackers “were convicted by the courts,” he assured.
The deputy mayor of Marseille in charge of the Environment, Christine Juste, recalled the “presumption of innocence” and welcomed Hassen Hammou’s decision to retire.
“We need to show our fellow citizens that we are not above everything,” he told AFP. “We are creating a movement, a dynamic for the municipal elections, and nothing can jeopardize the dynamic we are trying to stimulate.”
Last Tuesday, the environmentalists of Bouches-du-Rhône also voted in favor of the renewal of the left-wing union coalition in the first round of the municipal elections in Marseille. The election of a leader therefore promises to be symbolic: in all likelihood, the head of the Printemps of Marseille list should be the outgoing mayor, the former socialist Benoît Payan (various left), although the latter has not yet formalized his candidacy.
Source: BFM TV
