Friday’s eviction of the head of the judicial police (PJ) from the southern zone is “worrying” and reflects an “authoritarian mode of management”, estimated in a press release the French Association of Investigating Magistrates (Afmi).
In a separate press release, the Marseille investigating judges indicated that they had learned “with amazement” of the ousting of Eric Arella and expressed their “deep concern” with regard to the PJ reform project, disputed by the majority of this investigative body.
Eric Arella was dismissed from his post the day after a demonstration in Marseille against the reform of the PJ. Eric Arella notably piloted investigations into narcobanditry from Perpignan to Nice, via Marseille, one of the cities most affected by this scourge.