The electronic bracelet placement of businessman Alexandre Djouhri, indicted in the investigation into alleged Libyan financing of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign in 2007, was lifted at the end of November, we learned on Thursday December 17 with one of his lawyers.
Read also: Libyan funding: Alexandre Djouhri indicted in France
"
His electronic bracelet surveillance was lifted on November 27,
" said Jean-Marc Delas.
“
Finally!
It is a measure of excessive rigor and above all unnecessary that did not make sense,
”he added.
Asked by AFP, the national financial prosecutor's office merely indicated that Djouhri remained "
under judicial control
", stressing also that he had "
handed over his passport to the investigating judges
".
This means that even if he now enjoys greater freedom of movement, he cannot in principle leave the Schenghen area.
The question of cooperation and the response of Djouhri, a key witness in this affair, to the French justice system was at the heart of a judicial standoff.
The Franco-Algerian businessman, whose residence is established in Switzerland, refused to respond to the inquiries of the investigators, considering that they did not respect the legal forms.
In return, the French justice had issued European arrest warrants, under which he was arrested in January 2018 in London and then handed over to France after two years of procedural battle.
Indicted on January 31 after his surrender by the British authorities, the businessman was first placed in pre-trial detention in Fresnes, then released under electronic surveillance on March 16 when several of his fellow prisoners had tested positive at Covid-19.
Threatened to return to prison in September, he finally paid the bail of 2 million euros this fall demanded by the judges.
Appeared at the heart of suspicious payments between the Libya of Muammar Gaddafi and relatives of Nicolas Sarkozy, Djouhri is indicted for nine counts, including "
active corruption
" or "
complicity and concealment of embezzlement of public funds
".
Resident in Geneva before his arrest, he had to be hospitalized in 2018 in the British capital because of a series of cardiac accidents, then placed under house arrest before being extradited.
