These words coming from a former Minister of Justice are striking.
“The functioning of justice for citizens is incomprehensible,” said this Tuesday on BFMTV-RMC the boss of the MoDem François Bayrou, the day after his acquittal in the file of European parliamentary assistants affecting his party.
If he affirms that there is no "doubt" concerning his "innocence", the mayor of Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) admitted to having "very often thought that we did not have the slightest chance", while saying they have “confidence” in justice.
Comments that he subsequently reiterated on X (formerly Twitter) this Tuesday morning.
The functioning of justice is incomprehensible to citizens.
I feel a form of incomprehension in the face of 7 years of an accusation which I know had no basis.
— François Bayrou (@bayrou) February 6, 2024
In this case, François Bayrou was accused of being involved in a vast embezzlement of European public funds, making it possible to pay parliamentary assistants who would have carried out tasks for the MoDem.
He was finally acquitted with the “benefit of the doubt”, as there was no evidence in the file to prove his guilt.
Affair of the MoDem parliamentary assistants: "I very often thought that we didn't have the slightest chance", confesses François @bayrou pic.twitter.com/46vWj3eitR
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) February 6, 2024
“Changes to be made” in justice
According to François Bayrou, there are “very important changes to be made” in the area of justice.
“The prosecutors requested incredible sentences against me,” he said.
The prosecution had requested 30 months of suspended imprisonment, a fine of 70,000 euros and three years of suspended ineligibility.
“Does a fault as serious as an alleged embezzlement of public money deserve a reprieve?, also asked the High Commissioner for Planning.
This means that the file was not sufficiently constituted.
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As a preamble to his interview, François Bayrou spoke of a “feeling of extraordinary helplessness” during “seven years”, in which his fate was “debated in public”.
“It’s a very trying path, which cost a lot in humanity, and politically too,” he said, questioning the possibility of writing a book to tell what he experienced “from the beginning.” 'other side ".
“There is a feeling of relief, and of immense waste.
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Read alsoEuropean parliamentary assistants: relaxed, François Bayrou is back in the saddle
For François Bayrou, it is impossible to “distinguish the parliamentarian from his political party”.
“The parliamentarian decides in full democracy how he organizes his work,” he declared.
According to him, “there is no parliamentarian without a political party” since “it is the political party that chooses us to be elected”.
“It is entirely possible that here and there a parliamentary assistant did not do his job.
What does this have to do with the political party?
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“I have never shied away from any request from our country”
Secondly questioned about his possible appointment as Minister of National Education, François Bayrou said he “did not know”.
“There are many ways to serve and I have never eliminated any or chosen any.
I have never shied away from any request from our country,” he said without ruling out this possibility.
He, who had briefly been Minister of Justice, between May and June 2017, justified his departure from the government at the time by an impossibility of “exercising the function of Minister of Justice with a plethora of accusations”.
“I thought that it would not be possible for me to carry out my mission”: François Bayrou returns to the reasons for his departure from the government pic.twitter.com/zANDw8QnTz
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) February 6, 2024
“Everyone makes their choices,” he then responded about the current Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti, also targeted by an investigation while he was stationed at the Ministry of Justice.
The latter was also acquitted last November.
“The paths of Éric Dupond-Moretti and mine are not the same,” explained François Bayrou, recalling that he did not come from the world of justice, unlike the lawyer that Éric Dupond-Moretti was. Moretti.