Jacques Serais, edited by Alexandre Dalifard / Photo credit: BENOIT PEYRUCQ / AFP 19:09 p.m., November 10, 2023

This Friday, on the fifth day of the trial of Éric Dupond-Moretti, former Prime Minister Jean Castex, now head of the RATP, testified before the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR). And this first week of the trial ended this Friday afternoon with the disturbing testimony of the former justice adviser to the Élysée.

A former Prime Minister at the trial of Éric Dupond-Moretti for illegal acquisition of interest. Jean Castex, now head of the RATP, testified before the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR). On the stand, he said he was not the lawyer of the Minister of Justice, but denied any political settling of scores with the justice system. This first week of the trial ended on Friday afternoon with the disturbing testimony of the former justice adviser to the Élysée.

"We had to understand what was going on there"

When she entered the courtroom, Hélène Davo was the 16th and last witness of the week to take the stand. Silence pervades the courtroom. Éric Dupond-Moretti pulls out his pen. The former adviser to Emmanuel Macron approaches the microphone. From the outset, this magistrate, who is now the first president of the Bastia Court of Appeal, justifies and defends the decision of the Minister of Justice to order an administrative investigation against the National Financial Prosecutor's Office. "We had to understand what was going on there!" she insists. But what follows reveals a certain "at the same time" at the highest level of the state.

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Hélène Davo admits that the statements and complaint made by Éric Dupont-Moretti when he was a lawyer against the same PNF were likely to create confusion. "There was a problem. Yes, it was a situation of possible conflicts of interest. It's obvious," she says without batting an eyelid, "but we had to move forward." The former adviser to the Presidency pauses, then continues: "It is clear that we have collectively groped in the unprecedented. In hindsight, it is implausible that it would have taken three months for a deportation order from the minister. But at the time, I didn't know what it was." A testimony that exonerates Éric Dupond-Moretti of any desire for revenge. But which, in essence, overwhelms him.