Emanuel Macron demands to see if France's judicial system participated in Francois Pion's political assassination, leading to his retirement • Meir Habib: "Like other countries"
France's political system is agitated by revelations of "accelerated legal investigation pressures" that have eliminated the chances of right-wing candidate, former Prime Minister Francois Peillon, to win the presidential election held three years ago.
Photo: Reuters
The then-elected President, Emmanuel Macron, now demands the judiciary to open an investigation into allegations of political interference in the investigation proceedings against his conservative opponent. A statement from the Elysee Palace said that allegations of exerting pressure on the judiciary "at the fateful moment of the democratic process" in France "should be investigated to eliminate any doubt about the independence and neutrality of the judiciary."
Macron appealed to the Supreme Court to make sure that the Bureau of Financial Prosecution, which investigated allegations that Peyon fictitiously employed his wife, performed her professional duties.
Peyon, who was the leading candidate for the French Republican Party right now, is now facing charges that for years he paid his wife Penelope a total salary of € 613,000 (about NIS 2.5 million), claiming to have worked as his parliamentary aide. The lawsuit alleges that it was a fictitious employment and demanded five years of imprisonment and three years of probation for his wife. Fion on his part dismisses all charges against him and claims to be a victim of political collusion. The verdict will be published in the coming days.
The storm began following the publication of quotes from the testimony of the former prosecutor who was responsible for investigating the corruption case attributed to Pion, Elian Ault, before a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the independence of the judiciary. In quotes from the La Puan weekly, Ault admitted that she was under heavy pressure and close scrutiny by then Socialist government representatives to speed up the investigation into his case in the midst of the election campaign. According to the report, Ault testified to members of the committee who received incessant inquiries from socialist government officials, who demanded that she expedite the investigation into Pion so that he could be indicted before the election. In retrospect, between the first press release of the charges against Peyon and the announcement of indictment, a process that took months to years, took only six weeks.
According to the report, Ault was summoned to the Prosecutor General's Office just three months before the election, and was instructed to initiate a formal investigation into Peyon against all procedures. According to her testimony, she objected to this by saying that more evidence should be collected. But about ten days after that meeting, she succumbed to pressure and ordered the investigation to be opened. In doing so, it paved the way for the elimination of Pion's chances of being elected to the presidency and a complete change in the political balance of power. Fion claimed at the time that he was a victim of an impeachment campaign, and was finally removed from the presidential race.
"Just the tip of the iceberg"
Peyon's party responded to the former plaintiff's statements by stating that the allegations were extremely serious. Populist right-wing leader Marin Le Pen attacked: "When we condemn the use of the judicial system (by politicians), we say we are propagating conspiracy theories. The truth is beginning to emerge and that is just the tip of the iceberg."
French MP Meir Habib responded: "Fion certainly had the greatest potential in the race. The French left succeeded in overthrowing the right-wing candidate in weeks. Some see this similarity to what is happening in other countries in the world."