The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Thursday "
inadmissible
" the request filed by the former head of the anti-narcotics office François Thierry contesting the disciplinary sanction which had made him lose his quality of officer judicial police (OPJ) for two years.
In October 2017, the Attorney General of Paris, Catherine Champrenault, had withdrawn from the former boss of the anti-drug office (Ocrtis) his authorization as a judicial police officer.
On the criminal level, François Thierry had just been indicted for "
complicity in drug trafficking
".
“Unfair investigation”
The divisional commissioner had then challenged this disciplinary sanction, first by filing a non-contentious appeal with the general prosecutor, without success, then with the appeals committee of the OPJ.
In 2018, this commission had reduced the sanction to a two-year suspension of his quality of OPJ.
Against this last decision, François Thierry had seized the Court of Cassation, which had rejected his appeal, and the former boss of the "
stups
" had then turned to the ECHR, considering himself the victim of a violation of his right to a fair trial.
But in their decision published Thursday, the European magistrates judge that the OPJ appeals committee exercised "
full control of the merits of the sanction imposed
", including with regard to "
its proportionality
".
They therefore unanimously dismissed François Thierry's request.
“
The Appeals Board ruled on the basis of an investigation that was unfair.
In this sense, I find that the decision of the ECHR does not take into account the reality of the case
, ”reacted to AFP Me Francis Szpiner, the lawyer for François Thierry.
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The case broke out in October 2015 in the wake of a record seizure of cannabis hidden in vans on Boulevard Exelmans, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.
Justice had discovered that the drug had arrived in France as part of a controlled delivery operated by OCRTIS with the help of an important informant from the office.
According to a source close to the case, the Paris Attorney General had decided on the disciplinary sanction of François Thierry with regard to his "
serious breaches of the obligations of loyalty with regard to justice, and in particular the prosecution
".
Having served his two-year suspension, François Thierry has regained his OPJ authorization.
On the criminal level, he remains indicted and the investigation, out of place in Bordeaux, continues.