He had to explain himself. Prime Minister Jean Castex was heard in June by the magistrates of the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) in the investigation for “illegal taking of interests” which targets the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti, indicated Tuesday to AFP Matignon and a judicial source, confirming information from the Chained duck.
The head of government was heard on June 7 as a witness, these two sources confirmed. According to Chained duck, the Keeper of the Seals should soon be summoned by the magistrates of the CJR, the only jurisdiction empowered to judge ministers for acts committed in the exercise of their functions, with a view to indictment. Contacted by AFP, the entourage of Dupond-Moretti said he had “no information, no comment” to make on a possible summons.
“Bismuth” case
The CJR opened a judicial investigation in January for “illegal taking of interests” after receiving complaints lodged in December by three unions (Union Syndicale des Magistrates, Syndicat de la magistrature, Unit SNM FO) and the Anticor association on possible conflicts of interest between his work as Minister of Justice and his past activities as a lawyer, which the Minister contests.
At the heart of the accusations is the administrative investigation ordered by the minister in September on three magistrates of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) who had participated in a preliminary investigation aimed at identifying the mole who allegedly informed Nicolas Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog that they were wiretapped in the so-called “Bismuth” case.
“Methods of barbouzes”.
During these investigations, carried out for about six years, detailed telephone billings of several penalists, including those of the future minister, had been examined. Still a lawyer, Dupond-Moretti had denounced “methods of barbouzes”. Faced with the controversy, a general inspection carried out by her predecessor Place Vendôme Nicole Belloubet had globally cleared the PNF.
The unions also accuse Minister Dupond-Moretti of having opened another administrative investigation into magistrate Edouard Levrault. After the termination of his functions as an investigating judge in Monaco, the latter had denounced pressure in his investigations. Before becoming minister, Eric Dupond-Moretti had been the lawyer for a police officer indicted by this magistrate and had criticized the judge’s methods.