Three years of ineligibility were required Wednesday against the LR deputy of the Territoire-de-Belfort, Ian Boucard, tried in Besançon for "fraudulent maneuver" after the dissemination of false leaflets as part of the 2017 legislative campaign. The Besançon Criminal Court will issue its decision on June 12.
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Ian Boucard, 32, appeared for “misappropriation of voters' votes by fraudulent tactics”. In question: the distribution, between the two rounds of the legislative elections of June 2017, of 25,000 leaflets falsely imputed to the National Front (which has since become National Rally) and to La France Insoumise.
These edited leaflets, printed and distributed by the team of Mr. Boucard and his deputy, the mayor of Belfort Damien Meslot, called to vote against the MoDem-LREM candidate Christophe Grudler, at the head of the first round. Mr. Boucard narrowly won the second round (279 more votes, 50.75% of the vote), but Mr. Grudler contested the election.
“Falsified” election
"All the comments in these leaflets were made during this campaign, I do not distort them," defended Mr. Boucard in court on Wednesday. For his lawyer, Me Philippe Blanchetier, the leaflets take up "the substantial marrow" of the remarks made by the candidate FN in the Territoire-de-Belfort and by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, namely "blocking the candidates On the march".
An analysis contested by the prosecutor of the Republic of Besançon, Etienne Manteaux, who requested a sentence of 3 years of ineligibility and a 5,000 euros fine against the defendant. According to the magistrate, "we are not content to repeat the declarations in full, we redact them, we modify them", before "targeting" voters in the constituency likely to be receptive.
"We cheated, we defrauded. People believed in all good times that these instructions came from the Insubordinate France or the National Front, "said Christophe Grudler for his part.
“When we falsify the democratic election, it is extremely serious. Good repute must be the first quality of a politician, ”argued his counsel, Mr. Randall Schwerdorffer. Marine Le Pen's party asked for one euro in damages.
In December 2017, the Constitutional Council had invalidated the election of the deputy LR of the territory-of-Belfort and a partial legislative election had been organized in February 2018. Ian Boucard had then won more widely than in 2017, still facing Christophe Grudler.