Éric Dupond-Moretti in court for a possible indictment
The Keeper of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti is suspected of having used his statute to settle accounts with magistrates.
REUTERS - GONZALO FUENTES
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The French Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti is summoned this Friday by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) and could be indicted for illegal taking of interest.
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Did Eric Dupond-Moretti have used his status as minister to settle accounts with certain magistrates?
This is what suspects several of them, who accuse the Keeper of the Seals of having taken advantage of his functions to intervene in two cases where he previously acted as a lawyer.
Newly arrived at the government, Eric Dupond-Moretti has indeed launched administrative proceedings against three magistrates of the national financial prosecutor's office.
A few years earlier, they had ordered the analysis of the telephone records of several lawyers, including those of Eric Dupond-Moretti, during the preliminary investigation into the wiretapping case, implicating Nicolas Sarkozy.
The Minister of Justice is also suspected of taking illegal interest in having requested an administrative investigation against a former investigating judge who spoke on television about an investigation targeting one of Eric Dupond-Moretti's clients, again lawyer.
"A personal hunt"
The Keeper of the Seals says he is extremely calm about the outcome of this affair.
But if he is indicted, he could be forced to resign under the Balladur case law according to which an indicted minister must leave office.
"
This is exactly what the magistrates
'
unions are looking for
," denounces those around him.
"
This gives the feeling that there is a personal hunt on the part of certain unions of the judiciary, which is a corporatist reflex to become the former lawyer and that he can no longer be Minister of Justice
", comments thus the UDI deputy Jean-Christophe Lagarde.
Conversely, others prefer not to jump to conclusions.
"
There are not at this stage sufficiently characterized elements to draw this kind of conclusion, which would not prevent me when the time comes to ask myself the question if necessary
", tempers Philippe Gosselin, deputy. Republicans and judge elected to the Court of Justice of the Republic.
If the rebellious France refuses to comment on the case, it does not mince its words concerning the CJR, which the deputy Bastien Lachaud qualifies as "
aberration
".
"
If we removed this body, the Republic would be better off,
" he said.
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France
French politics
Eric Dupond-Moretti