France: the defense pleads for acquittal at the end of the trial of Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti
Éric Dupond-Moretti will have his fate decided on November 29. The prosecution, convinced that the Minister of Justice was guilty of illegal acquisition of interest by launching administrative investigations against 4 magistrates whom they had criticized when he was a lawyer, demanded a one-year prison sentence against him. His defence pleaded for acquittal on Thursday, November 16, the last day of the trial. Then, the Minister of Justice had the floor one last time.
French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti leaves the courtroom during his trial for illegal conflicts of interest at the Paris courthouse on November 16, 2023. REUTERS - SARAH MEYSSONNIER
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Transcript of the hearing, Marine de La Moissonnière
«
I have nothing to add, Mr. Chairman ». A sentence uttered in a blank voice. Then, theatrically, Éric Dupond-Moretti lowers the two microphones on the bar and returns to his seat... Nothing more than that, throughout the trial, the Minister of Justice did not cease to make comments out loud, to speak without being given it.
These are very natural "excesses" for a man who has been "wrongly accused", justifies his defence, which denounces the "sidereal emptiness of the case": Éric Dupond-Moretti has never sought revenge. "Not an email, not a conversation, not a post-it" corroborates this thesis, said one of the minister's two lawyers. On the contrary, it was the magistrates' unions that declared "war" on him because they wanted his head, the other counsel continued.
The defence has remained on the same line from the beginning: the Minister of Justice has only followed the recommendations of his services and has launched administrative investigations that are "legitimate in the eyes of all".
Now it's up to the judges to decide. And the defence reminds us that what is at stake is a possible resignation of the minister.
Read alsoFrance: one-year suspended prison sentence requested against Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti
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