French Justice Ministry Searched in Probe Against Minister
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14 Friday International Friday, July 2, 2021 French justice ministry searched in probe against minister PARIS: French police were searching the ministry of justice yesterday as part of a conflict of interest probe against the jus- tice minister, a former star defence lawyer, Paris court jails a judicial source said. Eric Dupond- Moretti was named justice minister last summer in a controversial move by Presi- celeb-targeting dent Emmanuel Macron that annoyed some magistrates and prosecutors, who burglars for 6 years felt the appointment of the flamboyant lawyer to be deeply inappropriate. PARIS: A Paris court has sentenced eight people to up The Law Court of the Republic (CJR), to six years in prison for being part of a gang of burglars the only French authority with the power who scaled buildings to steal millions in valuables from to try ministers for alleged abuses carried the rich and famous, including former Paris Saint-Ger- out while in office, opened a probe in Jan- main football star Thiago Silva. The seven men and one uary against Dupond-Moretti into con- woman, aged between 27 and 31, were accused of bur- flicts of interest owing to his past job. The gling not just top players from the PSG team, but also inquiry was opened following complaints music and TV personalities in seven burglaries in 2018 filed by three magistrate unions and the and 2019. Anticor anti-corruption association. Operating in units of two, three or four, they robbed The French weekly Canard Enchaine reported this week that Dupond-Moretti the homes of TV host Patrick Sebastien, celebrity chef PARIS: (From L) French Prime Minister Jean Castex, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti and will himself soon be summoned by CJR French Health Minister Olivier Veran leave the Elysee presidential Palace after the weekly cabinet Jean-Pierre Vigato and an unnamed wealthy Saudi na- magistrates to be questioned. In an un- meeting in Paris. —AFP tional, taking a combined 4.2 million euros ($5.0 million) usual move, Prime Minister Jean Castex worth of goods. was himself questioned by the CJR as a The heaviest sentences of six years in jail were given witness in the case on June 7. Both have since been sentenced in that terly absurd” idea-”and frankly I would by the court in its verdict late Wednesday to Mohamed At the heart of the accusations is the case to one year in jail, though it is un- never accept such a thing”. In 2019, he who thanks to his climbing prowess was known as “The administrative investigation ordered by likely they will serve any time behind bars. even starred in his own one-man theatre Cat” — a nickname he rejects — and Abdelazim who Dupond-Moretti in September against As a defence lawyer, Dupond-Moretti-an show called “Eric Dupond-Moretti to goes by the nickname “Bidou” — or “Kid”. Mohamed three magistrates of the powerful National intimidating figure who has likened the the Bar”. confessed to two thefts but was convicted of five, while Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF). courtroom to a theatre-earned the nick- When he was named justice minister in Abdelazim confessed to five and was convicted of seven. They took part in an investigation name of the “Acquittator”, a reference to a summer 2020 reshuffle, the head of the They were convicted of being part of a criminal gang aimed at identifying the mole who al- the Terminator films, for his track record USM magistrates union, Celine Parisot, and carrying out gang theft, while Mohamed was also legedly informed former president Nicolas in getting clients acquitted. said that appointing a person “who is so convicted of possessing a weapon after a pistol was Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog Dupond-Moretti swore as recently as divisive and who has such scorn for the found in his car. that they were being wiretapped in a cor- 2018 that he would never be justice min- judiciary” was tantamount to “a declara- ruption case. ister, saying no one would have the “ut- tion of war”. —AFP The five other men were sentenced to terms of be- tween one and four years for taking part in the burglaries at different points. The only woman among the defen- Black Lives Matter, which resonated in France after arriving from dants was given an 18 month suspended sentence for Macron worries the US, have led to fears among some critics that the country is im- concealing stolen goods and possessing a weapon. porting American racial and identity politics sometimes labelled as None of the victims of the burglaries appeared at the “woke culture.” trial and only the Saudi businessman filed a civil com- about ‘racialized’ A new generation of younger French activists are increasingly plaint. Silva — the PSG captain at the time, now playing vocal in denouncing the problem of racism in France and the for Chelsea — returned home after a match on Decem- French society legacy of the country’s colonial past in Africa and the Middle East. ber 23, 2018 to find his safe, jewellery and watches worth Their opponents see the focus on race and the past as opening a combined 1.2 million euros were gone. PARIS: French society is becoming increasingly “racialized”, French up unnecessary divisions and encouraging a culture in which mi- Surveillance camera footage showed two men climb- President Emmanuel Macron has warned in comments that blamed norities and women see themselves as constantly oppressed and ing up a drainpipe and entering Silva’s mansion through imported US social science ideas that focus on race. “I see that our discriminated against. a French window. Minutes later, they reappeared carry- society is becoming progressively racialized,” Macron told Elle mag- In an interview timed for the start of a UN-sponsored summit on gender inequality in Paris, Macron also promised to do more ing their loot in a backpack and a suitcase they took azine in an interview. to combat domestic violence and women’s health problems such from the house. He took aim in particular at the idea of “intersectionality”-popular among left-leaning US academics-that seeks to explain discrimina- as endometriosis. He also backed his education minister, Jean- At first the suspects denied everything. But over the Michel Blanquer, who has spoken out against girls wearing crop- past year, investigators made inroads on the gang, with tion and poverty by examining the role played by race and gender in affecting an individual’s life chances. tops in schools. members admitting to some of the accusations, or claim- “The logic of intersectionality fractures everything,” Macron said. “I’m in favour of ‘dressing properly’ at school, for girls as well as ing that they were only on lookout while others carried “I stand for universalism. I don’t agree with a fight that reduces boys,” he said. “Everything that is a marker of identity, or a desire to out the thefts. everyone to their identity or their particularity,” he continued. “Social shock or stand out, shouldn’t be at school.” Blanquer demanded that Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain stars have continued difficulties are not only explained by gender and the colour of your French pupils, who do not wear uniforms, come to school in “repub- to be targeted in burglaries. This year, Spanish PSG skin, but also by social inequalities.” lican dress” last September amid protests over bans on crop-tops player Sergio Rico and Argentinians Mauro Icardi and The 43-year-old added that he could think of young white men or mini skirts at some establishments. Angel Di Maria were burgled, as was the family of their in his hometown of Amiens or nearby Saint-Quentin in northern “School is not a place like any other,” the minister said. Brazilian teammate Marquinhos. —AFP France “who also have immense difficulties, for different reasons, in “You don’t go to school as if you’re going to the beach or to finding a job”. Movements against racism over the last year such as a nightclub.” —AFP.