Four men have been indicted and placed under judicial supervision in an investigation carried out in Paris on suspicion of electoral fraud during the municipal election in Bastia in 2020, AFP learned on Thursday February 16 from a judicial source.
The four men were indicted on February 6, 7, 9 and 10, in particular for "
obtaining suffrage with the help of a gift or promise, complicity in this offense or embezzlement of property in a public deposit
", indicated this source, confirming information from France 3 Corse.
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Among them are the former president of the Bastia urban community (CAB), his former chief of staff, as well as the lawyer and former president of the bar Jean-Sébastien de Casalta, whose list was advanced to the second round.
The latter "
is blamed for the delivery of packed lunches by two associations, and this when he has never aroused these spontaneous charitable initiatives
" during the coronavirus epidemic, deplored his lawyer, Me Camille Romani, noting the “
derisory character
” of the counts of indictment.
He is also accused
of "having agreed to a distribution of masks
" by the urban community of Bastia "
and of having provided assistance which would be illegal
", added Me Romani.
Conflicting climate
“
My client is an administrative staff who has nothing to do with the facts of which he is accused
”, reacted for his part Me Jean-François Casalta, who defends the former chief of staff.
The two lawyers announced remedies to challenge the lawsuits.
In this judicial investigation conducted by a Parisian investigating judge, thirteen people were heard in police custody.
No immediate prosecution was decided at the end.
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The investigation was opened in June 2020 by the Bastia prosecutor's office, for "
suspicion of electoral fraud
", following the filing of a complaint in the interval between the two rounds of the municipal election in the second city of Corsica. , then moved to Paris.
In this complaint, the "
Victoria
" association, whose initial object was the financing of the Radical Left Party (PRG) in Bastia, was suspected of having "
in the interval between the two rounds of the elections modified its statutes to distribute food to the needy
”, had explained at the time the parquet floor of Bastia.
The Bastia electoral campaign had taken place in a climate of conflict with the filing of several complaints.
The outgoing nationalist mayor of Bastia, Pierre Savelli, was re-elected with 49.37% of the votes cast, ahead of the union list of Mr. de Casalta (39.73%).