Lille (AFP)
The Court of Appeal of Douai on Tuesday sentenced the former mayor of Henin-Beaumont (Pas-de-Calais) Eugene Binaisse to five months in prison suspended for favoritism in a case of public procurement, have we learned from a judicial source.
The 79-year-old former mayor left was acquitted at first instance by the Bethune Criminal Court in June 2018.
"He was found guilty of the heads of prevention on which the appeal was appealing and was sentenced to five months of suspended imprisonment" (...), a judicial source told AFP, confirming information from The Voice of the North.
"Her request for exemption from registration of her conviction on the bulletin No. 2 of the criminal record was rejected," she added.
"We take note of this decision, we regret," reacted to the AFP Me Erwan Le Briquir, Mr. Binaisse's lawyer, adding that he would decide "in the coming days" of a possible appeal in cassation .
In total, "there are only two out of four cases for which Mr Binaisse has been sentenced," he said.
In addition, four other people - including ex-elected officials and officials of the town hall - were sentenced to two and five months imprisonment suspended and a fifth to 500 euros fine.
Steeve Briois, the current mayor RN, had lodged a complaint after discovering irregularities relating to sound reinforcement contracts or studies to build a pool and a crematorium.
"I welcome this court decision which recalls the fundamental principles of law and ethics to which I hold firmly," responded Mr Briois in a statement.
Hénin-Beaumont, municipality of the former mining basin, went to the FN in 2014, in the first round, after being led for four years by Eugène Binaisse. His mayor from 2001 to 2009, Gérard Dalongeville (left), was sentenced in 2013 to four years imprisonment, three of which is closed, for embezzlement of public funds, mischief favoritism and use of forgery.
© 2019 AFP