A former sub-prefect of Calvi, Anne Ballereau, has obtained the appointment of an investigating judge to investigate her accusations of sexual and moral "
harassment
" targeting the current director general of civil security, Alain Thirion, has learned AFP Tuesday, May 10 from concordant sources.
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Anne Ballereau, 65, filed a complaint on December 30, 2019 against Alain Thirion, prefect of Haute-Corse when she was stationed in Calvi, for moral harassment in the context of work and sexual harassment by a person in authority.
Alain Thirion was placed in police custody at the end of July 2020 to answer for "
moral harassment
" and the Bastia public prosecutor's office then closed the investigation for an insufficiently characterized offense in March 2021.
Complaint filed by Alain Thirion
According to a source familiar with the matter, Anne Ballereau filed a new complaint with civil action in January, resulting in almost automatic referral to an investigating judge.
She must be heard by an investigating judge in Bastia on May 24.
Asked by AFP, she declined to comment.
Contacted, the public prosecutor of Bastia, Arnaud Viornery, confirmed the appointment of an investigating judge.
"
The Bastia public prosecutor's office has already rendered a classification decision without further action after having carried out long and meticulous investigations, but also in the light of the conclusions of the complainant's psychiatric expertise
", commented on the other hand Me Marie-Alix Canu -Bernard, lawyer for the prefect.
“
This new initiative by Anne Ballereau, astonishingly publicized, will nevertheless allow the continuation of the complaint immediately filed by Alain Thirion, of the head of slanderous denunciation
”, also filed in March 2021, she added.
"Controversial" management method
In her new complaint, of which AFP has knowledge, Anne Ballereau denounces "
several precise and extremely telling events to characterize the acts of harassment
".
She points out that she "
suffered
" from "
many innuendos with a sexual connotation, inappropriate gestures, humiliating remarks and harassing behavior
".
She accuses Alain Thirion of having repeatedly insisted that she sleep at the prefecture.
He would have added that his wife was “
on the continent
” and would have told her not to be “
difficult
”.
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Alain Thirion was Prefect of Haute-Corse from 2015 to 2017. Since 2019, he has been Director General of Civil Security and Crisis Management (DGSCGC) at the Ministry of the Interior.
As part of this investigation, a handful of senior officials testified to a "
litigious, aggressive management method
", according to information obtained by AFP.