"He therefore has all my confidence," said the head of state to the press in Prague after a European summit.
He also considered that the dismissal of Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti was "a very special case" which did not justify a dismissal of the government either.
When he was a candidate for a first five-year term in 2017, Emmanuel Macron said that, "in principle", a minister should "leave the government" in the event of an indictment.
But this "principle" has not always been applied strictly, and it is today strongly criticized by the oppositions for the maintenance of Alexis Kohler and Eric Dupond-Moretti.
Asked about a reversal of doctrine, President Macron seemed to explain that these were exceptions to the rule.
"As for my secretary general, it will not have escaped you that he is not a minister," he replied, believing that this doctrine therefore did not apply in his file.
"As for a man who for several years has spent his nights and days serving the state with a dedication and integrity to which I can attest", "I consider the decision I am making" to to keep in his post "is completely legitimate", declared Emmanuel Macron.
He argued that justice was taking its course "in complete independence".
As for the Keeper of the Seals, his future trial results from a "referral from the magistrates' unions on a case which involved magistrates in a procedure in which he was a party when he was a lawyer".
"And so it does not affect anything, obviously, what he did as a minister in his activity or subjects which, if I may say, are moral", pleaded the President of the Republic.
"I consider that it has nothing to do with any case law that existed or the commitments that I was able to make given the very nature of the case."
© 2022 AFP