2023-11-06 15:29:15
FRANCE – Eric Dupond-Moretti’s trial opens this Monday at 2 p.m., for a duration of 10 days. For the first time, a Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals is tried by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), the only court authorized to prosecute and judge members of the government for acts committed in the exercise of their duties. functions. The former criminal lawyer, nicknamed “Acquittator” for his numerous acquittals, is accused of illegal taking of interests. In clear terms, Eric Dupond-Moretti is suspected of having abused his position as minister to settle scores linked to his past as a lawyer. He faces five years of imprisonment, a fine of 500,000 euros, ineligibility and a ban on holding public office.
Maintained in his position despite his indictment in July 2021, the Minister of Justice will not even give up his post during the trial and will continue to exercise his functions. Until his conviction?
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 (like his lawyer Thierry Herzog). The judges suspect the former head of state of having tried to obtain confidential information from a magistrate on another case which concerns him.
“Objective conflict of interest situation”
During the instructions, the magistrates realized that Nicolas Sarkozy was aware of his wiretapping and suspected the existence of a “mole” who would have spilled the beans to the former president and his lawyer, sentenced in March 2020, to three years in prison, one year of which is closed. The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) then launched “an investigation within an investigation” to identify this mole, sifting through the telephone bills of around ten lawyers from the bar, including the current Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond- Moretti.
The information was revealed by the press and Dupond-Moretti was scandalized, denouncing a “barbouzarde investigation”. He decided to file a complaint and his predecessor, Nicole Belloubet, immediately launched an “operational inspection” into the PNF investigation. Dupond-Moretti withdraws his complaint a few days after his appointment on July 6, 2020.
After taking office, 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. This is the first case for which the Ministry of Justice is subject, on July 1, 2021, of a search, before an indictment, on July 16, by the magistrates of the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) for illegal taking of interests. This is the first time that a serving Minister of Justice has found himself under this status.
But the man nicknamed “Acquittator” is implicated in a second case. This concerns another magistrate. This is 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. The Minister of Justice launched administrative proceedings against the judge, justifying his decision by the fact of having been “shocked” by Levrault’s methods.
The four magistrates (Edouard Levrault and the three linked to the investigation into the PNF, Editor’s note) all ended up being exonerated by the disciplinary body of the judiciary, the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM), considering the Keeper of the Seals “in an objective situation of conflict of interest”.
No interim, “the ministry will continue to operate”
Eric Dupond-Moretti has always rejected the accusation of illegal taking of interests, claiming to have only done “follow the recommendations” of his administration. Despite the CJR’s decision, Emmanuel Macron, who has several times promised that a member of his government would resign automatically in the event of indictment, has renewed his confidence in him.
However, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne declared in October that if he is convicted, the Minister of Justice will have to leave office. In the meantime, the question is who will replace him during the duration of the trial. A priori no one! “The organization is in place to keep the ministry running”, she said. On October 15, Eric Dupond-Moretti himself promised that his ministry “would not be abandoned”. “For three and a half years, I have not been hindered in my ministerial work. You don’t believe that the ministry will be abandoned? The ministry will continue to operate, that is my only concern”, he said.
There is no doubt that if he is convicted, the Minister of Justice will leave the government since he faces up to five years of imprisonment, accompanied by a fine of 500,000 euros, a penalty of ineligibility and a ban on holding public office.
Around twenty witnesses are called to testify at this trial, including the four magistrates targeted by the Minister of Justice. Trade unionists, authors of the complaints which triggered the procedure against Dupond-Moretti, the former attorney general at the Court of Cassation François Molins and the former Minister of Justice, Nicole Belloubet, will be heard by the CJR, made up of three magistrates of the Court of Cassation and a dozen parliamentarians from all sides.
According to his entourage, relayed by the press, Eric Dupond-Moretti, who distinguished himself during his career as a lawyer by defending Patrick Balkany or Abdelkader Merah, brother of the author of the Toulouse attacks in 2012, is “serene”claiming to be “innocent”. The one who became known for his relationship which was both stormy and tense with the magistrates has several times denounced an investigation “biased”whose aim is to “sullying the reputation of a former lawyer”.
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