"The words of the former financial prosecutor have, rightly or wrongly, distilled doubt about the independence and impartiality of justice in the conduct of this case," said Keeper of the Seals Nicole Belloubet, in an interview in the Sunday Journal . The former national financial prosecutor Eliane Houlette, retired for a year, was moved on June 10 before a parliamentary commission of the "very close control" that would have exercised the general prosecutor's office, its direct supervisory authority, in the conduct of investigations launched in the midst of the 2017 presidential campaign.
"It is essential to remove this deleterious doubt for the judiciary",
Friday, she clarified that the pressures mentioned were "not on the facts alleged against François Fillon nor on the merits of the proceedings", but "were purely procedural". "François Fillon has not been indicted at the request or under pressure from the executive," she insisted. But his first statements triggered an avalanche of political reactions criticizing the instrumentalization of justice in this ultra-sensitive affair. "It is essential to remove this deleterious doubt for the judicial institution", judge Nicole Belloubet in the JDD.
Emmanuel Macron asked the Superior Judicial Council (CSM) for an opinion to "verify that the national financial prosecutor's office had conducted" in all serenity, without pressure "from the executive its investigation into the Fillon spouses." The CSM is, under the terms of the Constitution, the body which assists the President of the Republic to guarantee the independence of the judiciary, "notes the Minister." He will be able to assess whether the hierarchical power of the Attorney General of Paris, which results from the organization of our 'French public prosecutor's office' and is not contestable in itself, was exercised in conditions likely to undermine the independence of the judiciary, "she explains.
Belloubet does not rule out carrying out a judicial inspection
The Superior Council of the magistracy will be able "to hear all the protagonists", underlines Nicole Belloubet, who does not exclude from carrying out a judicial inspection, if the CSM "considers it necessary". Asked about the independence of the prosecution, Nicole Belloubet said she was "in favor" of the prosecutors being appointed on the assent of the CSM, like the judges. Emmanuel Macron had announced a reform in this sense, but it has been postponed indefinitely.