Paris (AFP)
A Minister of Justice targeted by a judicial investigation: an investigation has been formally opened against Eric Dupond-Moretti on possible conflicts of interest between his action as Keeper of the Seals and his past activities as a lawyer.
This new procedural step, announced to AFP by the general prosecutor's office near the Court of Cassation, was expected but could weaken the position of the minister, whose surprise appointment in July had been welcomed as a "declaration of war" by the unions of magistrates.
The investigation opened for "illegal taking of interests" - carried out by the investigating commission of the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), the only court empowered to judge ministers - follows complaints lodged in December by three unions (Union Syndicale des Magistrates, Syndicat de la Magistrature, SNM FO Magistrates Unit) and the Anticor association.
Interviewed last week before the opening of the investigation, the Minister of Justice was combative.
“When the time comes, I'll explain, you can count on me to say everything I have to say,” he warned on France 2.
At the heart of the accusations is the administrative investigation ordered by the minister in September against three magistrates of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), who had participated in a preliminary investigation aimed at identifying the mole who allegedly informed Nicolas Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog that they were bugged.
During these investigations carried out for about six years, detailed telephone billings of several criminal lawyers, including those of the future minister, had been examined.
Still a lawyer, Mr. Dupond-Moretti had denounced "methods of barbouzes".
The unions also accuse Minister Dupond-Moretti of having opened another administrative investigation against magistrate Edouard Levrault.
After the termination of his duties as an investigating judge in Monaco, the latter denounced pressure in the context of his investigations.
- No "squabble" -
Before becoming a minister, Mr. Dupond-Moretti had been the lawyer for a police officer indicted by this magistrate and had criticized the judge's methods.
Rejecting any "quarrel" with the minister, the president of the Syndicat de la magistrature (left) Katia Dubreuil welcomed the opening of the investigation into a question which touches on "fundamental democratic principles".
"We have used all institutional channels to warn about the democratic problem. We wanted to discuss with the Prime Minister, with the president, we had the only response + we trust him. + We used the only recourse that we have. remained, "she told AFP.
"This situation could not be left as it is."
The entourage of the Keeper of the Seals has shown him confident.
He considered that the hypothesis of an indictment "was not at all topical" and assured that Mr. Dupond-Moretti and his lawyers would be able to demonstrate "that there is no offense".
"We are going to forward to the investigation committee all the elements which demonstrate that the decisions which are the subject of this investigation are part of a chain in which the magistrates of the services of the judicial direction are present at all stages" , added Me Christophe Ingrain, one of the lawyers for the Minister of Justice.
"The minister is only following the recommendations of these magistrates".
"The minister is very serene since he has done as all his predecessors have done: he followed the advice of his administration," also said one of his advisers, minimizing the scope of a story which he said would not be of interest to him. "only a very small handful of unionized people."
As of Monday, the government said "take note" of the imminent opening of an investigation targeting the Minister of Justice.
A decree was also issued at the end of October to prevent possible new conflicts of interest.
Under the terms of this text, Prime Minister Jean Castex is in charge of cases involving parties for whom Mr. Dupond-Moretti was the lawyer or in which he was involved.
Chance of the calendar, Liberation and the Chained Duck revealed Wednesday that another minister, Sébastien Lecornu (Overseas), is also the subject of an investigation for "illegal taking of interests", information confirmed to the 'AFP from judicial source.
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