They were nearly 2,400 to hurry, on November 5, 2021, under the beams of the David-Douillet gymnasium in Charvieu-Chavagneux (Isère) to listen to the one who was then only a polemicist on CNews decline his usual themes: decline of the France, massive immigration and the danger of progressive ideologies. A few days before the formalization of his candidacy, Eric Zemmour had come to this town of 10,000 inhabitants, located 30 minutes by road from Lyon, at the invitation of its mayor, Gérard Dezempte, a figure of the extreme right in Isère. This invitation was coupled with the free availability of the municipal gymnasium, a godsend for Mr. Zemmour and his very young organization, Reconquête!, which was still working out the financing of the future campaign.
Mr. Dezempte – became regional coordinator of Reconquest a few days later! – had taken care, in its deliberation, taken on November 2 in the municipal council, to open the invitation to all the presidential candidates. But that was not enough for the Regional Chamber of Accounts (CRC) of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, which made a report to the Vienna prosecutor’s office, triggering the opening, on July 26, of a preliminary investigation against X , heads of “favouritism, illegal taking of interests, embezzlement of public funds and concealment of these crimes”confirm to Monde the prosecutor of Vienna, Audrey Quey. It is entrusted to the research section of the gendarmerie of Grenoble.
In his report, revealed by The Dauphine Libere then made public on February 21, the institution points out that at the time of this public meeting, Eric Zemmour “had not declared his candidacy for the presidential election” and recalls that the law provides “that any occupation or use of the public domain of a public person gives rise to the payment of a fee”which was not the case here.
A mayor hostile to Islam
In addition, notes the CRC, several invoices relating to the meeting were sent directly to the town hall of Charvieu-Chavagneu. However, it did not settle them: it was Gérard Dezempte’s micro-party, “Together for France” (EPF), which paid for it, defends the city councilor. But this confusion between party and commune is at the heart of the criticisms of the CRC, which evokes hundreds of files concerning the party – minutes of meetings, files of members, letters… – hosted on the municipal computer network. The town hall also covered expenses related to EPF equipment, « a minimal » for three years. The chamber also discovered that the municipal administration was called upon to collect contributions from elected party members, a “confusion between municipality and political party” judged ” manifest “.
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