Laurence Arribagé, former LR MP and current deputy mayor of Toulouse, was sentenced Monday to three years in prison and five years of deprivation of her voting and eligibility rights, for having participated in an attempt at destabilization aimed at her LREM rival Corinne Vignon in 2017. The elected official (today at Horizons) wanted
to “satisfy a vindictiveness strictly incompatible with the service of the general interest and that of her fellow citizens”
, estimated the Paris criminal court.
The decision has immediate effect, which means that Laurence Arribagé will lose her mandate as deputy mayor of Toulouse in charge of Sports.
“Of course we are going to appeal
,” said his lawyer, Me Éric Mouton, denouncing in a press release
“a political execution”
.
He castigated a judgment accompanied by provisional execution,
“legal heresy which allows a court to deprive you of your mandate while you are still presumed innocent”
.
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The former MP (2014-2017) was found guilty of concealment of slanderous denunciation, violation of professional secrecy and illegal taking of interest.
She was suspected of having wanted to destabilize her LREM rival Corinne Vignon during the 2017 legislative election in the 3rd constituency of Haute-Garonne, through a denunciation for “
tax fraud”
and
“hidden work”
to her against.
While Laurence Arribagé, outgoing MP, found herself in difficulty at the end of the first round, the deputy regional director of public finances of Occitanie Marc Menvielle - now retired - launched a tax investigation in June 2017 relating to the amateur astrologer activities of Corinne Vignon, whose income she would not have declared (only 200 euros).
Astrologers' activities
At the same time, he had sent a report to the Toulouse public prosecutor's office, without prior verifications.
Investigators then uncovered text message exchanges between Marc Menvielle and Laurence Arribagé, who was kept informed of the progress of the steps taken to cast shame on her rival.
The maneuver did not prevent Corinne Vignon from emerging victorious in 2017 and being re-elected in 2022. Monday, Marc Menvielle was sentenced to the same sentence as Laurence Arribagé.
As for the third defendant in this case, Corinne Vignon's ex-employer, Frédéric Sartorelli, he received an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a five-year ban on the right to vote and stand for election: he was accused of having transmitted to the outgoing MP information relating to the astrologer activities of her opponent, and to have contacted the local press to inform them of the denunciation.
The three defendants will also have to each pay a fine of 10,000 euros.