Former lawyer and now Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti arrived Thursday morning March 3 at the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), to be heard by judges on suspicion of illegal taking of interest which earned him an indictment.
Upon his arrival, he did not make a statement to the press, AFP journalists noted.
Read alsoThe CJR deems 253 complaints against Dupond-Moretti inadmissible
The Keeper of the Seals had already been heard on July 16, 2021 for nearly six hours by three judges of the CJR's investigating committee, the only court authorized to prosecute and try ministers for offenses committed in the exercise of their functions.
At the end of this interrogation, he had been indicted for “
illegal taking of interests
”.
Suspicions of illegal taking of interests
Thursday, he should be heard on the merits, as usual in this type of procedure, by the same three judges, who have also carried out other acts and hearings since last summer.
After complaints from magistrates' unions and the anti-corruption association Anticor denouncing two situations of conflict of interest since his arrival at the Chancellery, the CJR opened a judicial investigation in January 2021.
Éric Dupond-Moretti, appointed Keeper of the Seals in July 2020, is suspected of having taken advantage of his position to settle scores with magistrates with whom he had had trouble when he was a lawyer in two cases.
The first concerns the administrative investigation he ordered in September 2020 against three magistrates of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) who had had his detailed telephone bills peeled ("
fadettes
") when he was still a star in the courtrooms.
Read alsoSuspicions of conflict of interest: Dupond-Moretti wants again to challenge the magistrates of the Court of Justice of the Republic
In the other, he is accused of having initiated administrative proceedings against a former investigating judge seconded to Monaco, Édouard Levrault, who had indicted one of his ex-clients and whose methods he had criticized "
cowboy
”.
Éric Dupond-Moretti has always insisted that he had only "
followed the recommendations
" of his administration.
Asked by AFP, neither his entourage nor his lawyers wished to comment before his hearing.
