Several political leaders screamed in scandal this Thursday after the declarations of the former head of the national financial parquet (PNF) who says to have undergone "pressures" of his hierarchy in the conduct of the investigation into the Fillon affair. Heard on June 10 by the parliamentary commission of inquiry on the independence of the justice, Eliane Houlette reaffirmed having decided, in January 2017, in complete independence to open an investigation targeting the Fillon spouses after suspicions of fictitious jobs revealed by Le Canard enchaîné.
This investigation, launched in the midst of the presidential campaign, had poisoned François Fillon's candidacy for the Elysée and led in the spring of 2020 to his criminal trial alongside his wife Penelope in particular. The judgment is expected on June 29.
"Very tight control" and "very heavy pressure"
At the time of his hearing, Eliane Houlette was however moved by the “very close control” that the public prosecutor's office, his direct supervisory authority, would have exercised in the conduct of the investigations. "The most difficult (...) was to deal with the pressure of journalists at the same time - but that ... (we can), we can get away from it (...) - and above all the pressure from the public prosecutor's office," said the former prosecutor, retired in June 2019.
Eliane Houlette spoke in particular of "requests for rapid transmission" of the investigative acts or the hearings and revealed that she had been summoned by the public prosecutor's office, which argued that the investigation should be entrusted to an investigating judge. "We can only ask ourselves questions, it is a very tight control and it is a very heavy pressure", she said.
Paris Attorney General Denies
Directly questioned, the Attorney General of Paris Catherine Champrenault said, in a message sent to AFP, "regret that what is the regular functioning of the public prosecutor's office is assimilated to pressures".
Already in office at the time of the Fillon affair, she "recalls that her action was always part of the exercise of her legal prerogatives to ensure the application of the law and the proper functioning of the prosecution under her authority" .
Going unnoticed, Eliane Houlette's statements resurfaced thanks to an article in Le Pointand provoked outrage from very distant political families. The Les Républicains party, which has often denounced an "instrumentalization" of justice in the Fillon affair, has raised "extremely serious" accusations.
Strong political reactions
Both targeted by PNF investigations, the National Rally and the rebellious France, saw in these "pressures" proof of justice to orders. “The former head of the financial center admits having acted under pressure in the Fillon affair. Responsible? The head of the public prosecutor's office who ordered the odious searches against LFI [actually ordered by the Paris public prosecutor's office]. The truth is on the way, ”tweeted Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the Insoumis.
"And to say that when we denounce the instrumentalization of justice, some people call us conspirators ... The truth comes out and this is only the tip of the iceberg," commented Marine Le Pen on Twitter.
According to the rules in force, the public prosecutor's office may request information from the public prosecutor's office and transmit it to the directorate of criminal affairs and pardons within the Chancellery, which can forward it to the office of the Minister of Justice. On the other hand, the Taubira law of 2013 prohibits the Keeper of the Seals from giving instructions in individual files.
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