2023-12-02 16:20:03
SPITTING PORTRAIT – It’s the Dupond d’Isigny, the Dupond d’Isigny…
Éric Dupond-Moretti is quite a character. An unorthodox, controversial lawyer of national notoriety, admired by magistrates and colleagues for his resounding successes and his pleadings, hated by others for his methods, his provocative and quarrelsome words. The career of this criminal lawyer, nicknamed “Acquittator” for dozens of acquittals, is punctuated by legal successes, but above all by controversies and tensions with the judicial system. A winding trajectory which culminates with an unprecedented indictment then a resounding trial, which testify to the contradictions of the current Minister of Justice.
From defender to accused… from lawyer to Minister of Justice
How did Éric Dupond-Moretti become a lawyer? The suspicious death of his maternal grandfather, an Italian immigrant, without any investigation being opened, “obviously participates in it”. Later, in a book, he explained that he became a lawyer out of “hatred of the death penalty”, after the execution of Christian Ranucci in 1975, accused of the murder of a little girl. “That day”, at 15, in boarding school with the brothers, “I knew that I would be a lawyer”.
Gravedigger one day…
During his law studies, he took on odd jobs: mason, waiter, educational assistant and even… gravedigger. Upon graduation, he took the entrance exam to law school. He is a winner of the Internship Conference, the eloquence competition for bar lawyers.
Eric Dupond took the oath on December 11, 1984 and registered with the Lille bar. He tries to join reputable firms but fails to convince them. “He wanted it, but at the time, to be frank, he didn’t make a big impact on me.”says a Parisian criminal lawyer. “Yes, his physique! He had a size that suited someone who wants to break down closed doors.”. He finally began his career in the industrial tribunal and then in the commissions of offices, under the leadership of Jean Descamps and Alain Furbury, two tenors. “In the evening, I took office orders with all my might. I started doing the procedure, which no one in Lille was doing at the time. I obtained some spectacular releases and acquittals”, he says. It was at this time that he decided to add his mother’s name to his surname, similar to that of a colleague.
Whitened to the nostril…
He obtained his first acquittal in 1987, at the age of 26, three years after having lent
oath. His rise began, despite a search and police custody in 1993 – due to traces of cocaine found in his vehicle – and the conviction of many of his clients. He is increasingly famous, takes on high-profile cases and his successes, his pleadings and his talent as an orator earn him the nicknames “The Ogre of the North” and above all, “Acquittator”.
In 1993, he defended Jacques Glassmann, the footballer who revealed the attempted corruption of Valenciennes (VA) players by the leaders of Olympique de Marseille (OM), chaired by Bernard Tapie. This is the famous VA-OM affair. But it was the Outreau trial in 2004, at the end of which the “baker” Roselyne Godard was acquitted, which earned her national notoriety. Eric Dupond-Moretti is contacted by hundreds of clients, both personalities and ordinary citizens.
A few months before his appointment as Minister of Justice, he totaled 145 acquittals and many were obtained after very heavy convictions at first instance. Let us cite the cases of Jean Castela, accused of being the instigator of the assassination of the prefect of Corsica, Claude Érignac and sentenced to 30 years of criminal imprisonment at first instance, or even Michel Pinneteau, sentenced to the same sentence in the case “headless bodies of Esteron” before his acquittal.
Tenor for bars
Between 2011 and 2019, “L’Ogre du Nord” no longer only pleads in criminal cases but is also interested in political, media and financial matters. His way of defending his clients, such as Abdelkader Merah, brother of the terrorist Mohammed Merah, author of the Toulouse attacks, regularly earns him criticism. critiques. His colleagues describe an “imposing, intimidating” lawyer, with unconventional, even “odious” methods. The magistrates, with whom his relationship has always been stormy, if not hateful, criticize him for an often “quarrelsome” and “provocative” tone.
Will be able to wish a safe return to Cahuzac…
Among his notorious clients are the footballer Karim Benzema, the handball player Nikola Karabatic but especially Bernard Tapie in the Crédit Lyonnais affair, the former Minister Delegate in charge of the Budget, Jérôme Cahuzac, accused of tax fraud by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) and Patrick Balkany, mayor of Levallois-Perret. Acquittals are not always there and successes are rather relative.
The very media lawyer has never hesitated to use TV sets to plead the cause of his clients or that of… the defense. His attitude is singled out and many people accuse him of being hungry for notoriety. Eric Dupond-Moretti is also in the news for controversial positions and statements. In 2013, the man who has always expressed his rejection of “all forms of institutional violence” refused the Legion of Honor, a reward he despises. In 2015, he said he was in favor of banning the National Front. “Jean-Marie Le Pen took care of the Jews, Marine Le Pen takes care of the Muslims”, he declares. He opposes the ban on bullfighting for minors and expresses his wish to see any communication on social networks prohibited as long as it is anonymous and unsigned. He will never abandon this idea, which he is putting back on the table in the summer of 2023, following the violent clashes that occurred in several cities in France after the death of Nahel.
“Silly” and “incongruous”… but ultimately accepted
At that time, in June 2023, he has already been Minister of Justice for three years. However, in 2018, he declared that he did not have the skills for such a position and that he would never accept such a proposal, which would be “stupid, absurd, incongruous and implausible”. On July 6, 2020, he was appointed Keeper of the Seals in the Jean Castex government. Emmanuel Macron’s decision to offer the morocco of Justice to “Acquittor” arouses an outcry among magistrates, who consider this appointment as a “declaration of war on the judiciary”.
A first round to lose the North…
Eric Dupond-Moretti therefore discovered the habits and customs of political life, not without difficulties. His “enthusiasm” upon taking office was quickly eclipsed by the departure deemed “embarrassing” of Charlotte Bilger, dismissed three days after being appointed special advisor to the now Minister of Justice. The sidelining of this magistrate is linked by some to her decision, as a judge, to indict, in December 2019, the president of the MoDem, François Bayrou, and dozens of elected officials or executives of his party , for complicity in embezzlement of public funds. In 2021, during the regional elections in Hauts-de-France, Eric Dupond-Moretti is running as head of the list of the presidential majority, which includes the MoDem. He was eliminated in the first round, despite calls from the Minister of Justice to “fire” the RN, “real danger for democracy”from the department of Pas-de-Calais.
He was still reappointed by Emmanuel Macron but avoided running in the 2022 legislative elections. This election saw the remarkable breakthrough of the National Rally and Dupond-Moretti attracted criticism when he evoked the possibility of “moving forward”, “in the interest of the French”, with this party that he has always “fought” according to those around him.
From skills to incompetence…
This is not his first contradiction. The one who accepted the post of minister despite his incompetence political, according to his statements, and who considered the RN a “danger for democracy”, in turn adopts this “institutional violence” rejected, according to him, during his career as a lawyer. His heated pleas before the magistrates gave way to virulent interventions before the elected representatives of the National Assembly. And even frankly inappropriate gestures in the hemicycle, like this arm of honor addressed in March 2023 to Olivier Marleix, president of the Les Républicains group.
During his mandate, Eric Dupond-Moretti presented a bill aimed at “restoring confidence in justice”. Provisions of the text, such as the possibility of broadcasting hearings or unclogging the assize courts by generalizing the departmental criminal courts, are rejected by the magistrates. He who during his career as a lawyer denounced the “dictatorship of emotion” of which his clients could be victims, announcement the tabling of a bill relating to criminal irresponsibility, after the retention of irresponsibility, confirmed on appeal and in cassation, of the murderer of Sarah Halimi.
Legal taking of illegal relaxing interests
Dupond-Moretti at the Ministry of Justice, it is above all his indictment by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) for suspicion of illegal taking of interests, a first for a Minister of Justice. He is suspected of having abused his position as minister to settle scores linked to his past as a lawyer. The case dates back to June 2020, on the sidelines of another case linked to former president Nicolas Sarkozy. The latter, accused of corruption and influence peddling in the so-called “Paul Bismuth” affair, has been under telephone surveillance since 2014 but the magistrates realize that he is aware of this procedure and suspect the existence of a “mole” who would have spilled the beans to the former president. The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) then launched “an investigation within an investigation” to identify this mole, by sifting through the telephone bills of around ten lawyers from the bar, including Eric Dupond-Moretti.
The information is revealed by the press and “the Ogre of the North” protests, denouncing a “barbouzarde investigation”. He filed a complaint but withdrew it a few days after his appointment on July 6, 2020. But the former lawyer did not suspend the inspection launched by Nicole Belloubet, despite numerous warnings about the risk of conflict of interest. At the end of this inspection, he even ordered another administrative investigation, this time targeting two magistrates responsible for the investigation and the head of the PNF at the time of the events, Eliane Houlette.
He also took advantage of his appointment to launch an administrative procedure against another magistrate, Edouard Levrault, an investigating judge currently seconded to Nice, but who was practicing in Monaco when he indicted one of Eric Dupond-Moretti’s clients. On July 1, 2021, the latter was the subject of a search, before being indicted, on July 16, by the magistrates of the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) for illegal taking of interests.
His trial opens on November 6, 2023 for a duration of 10 days. Without putting his lawyer’s robe back on, he rejects the accusations, believes “to be in a trap” and attributes his situation to “guerre” that the magistrates would lead him since his appointment.
He is finally relaxed…
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