The National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), an institution responsible for tracking down serious economic and financial crime and fighting against corruption among the elites, is faced with an embarrassing affair. According to our information, one of his deputy prosecutors is under investigation, the Ministry of Justice having seized the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM). This magistrate has just been transferred to the parquet of the tribunal de grande instance of Versailles (Yvelines), as attested by the annual "transparency", this internal document which confirms the movements to come in the magistracy.
The case dates back to last December. One of the PNF's vice-prosecutors is suspected of having adopted inappropriate behavior towards one of his colleagues to whom he allegedly sent SMS of a sexual nature. Text messages described as "vulgar and unpleasant" according to a source familiar with the matter. The vice-prosecutor was also guilty of "suggestive gestures", according to the same source, but did not commit any assault. Another civil servant was allegedly victim of the behavior of this same magistrate.
Main victim recounted harassment in detail
The alleged facts, which at the start were not denounced by the interested parties, however came back to the ears of Jean-François Bohnert, the new head of the PNF. He immediately summoned the main victim, who literally collapsed in front of his supervisor and described in detail the harassment she suffered from her colleague. According to the classic procedure, François Bohnert then alerted Catherine Champrenault, the attorney general of the Paris Court of Appeal, who summoned the protagonists of the case. At the end, she wrote a report, which was then sent to the directorate of judicial services, responsible for managing the quarries. The suspected magistrate acknowledged the facts, which are otherwise materially characterized, while minimizing intentionality.
Did we want to avoid making waves or spreading the word? The Ministry of Justice has chosen not to temporarily suspend the magistrate. It was therefore suggested that the official go on leave by emptying his time savings account. He also teleworked from his home. The magistrate, meanwhile, found herself on sick leave.
Today, this sensitive and confidential investigation has been entrusted to a magistrate of the CSM, the body responsible for examining facts having a disciplinary scope. The magistrate in question should leave the National Financial Prosecutor's Office, on the occasion of a transfer, subject to the results of the disciplinary procedure.
"Justice prefers to wash dirty laundry with the family"
The alleged victims ultimately decided not to file a complaint. And no legal action has, at this stage, been initiated by the hierarchy. A position that is not unanimous among all magistrates. "In all sectors of society, we play on transparency, but the justice system prefers to wash its dirty laundry with the family", denounces one of them. Another considers, however, that the procedure was followed.
Requested by "Le Parisien" - "Today in France", the lawyer of the magistrate in question, Me Jean-Yves Leborgne, did not wish to comment. The Ministry of Justice, meanwhile, confirmed the referral to the CSM, without making further comments. The head of the National Financial Prosecutor's office could not be reached.