"No one is prepared to be a magistrate in Corsica ..." The confidence is that of a former judge, now retired, who served as a prosecutor on the Isle of Beauty.
François-Marie Cornu, 45, will not say the opposite.
From his Corsican experience, there are now only long months of sick leave, a status of disabled worker and a disciplinary procedure opened five years ago and which brought him for the second time, this Thursday, December 3 in the morning, in front of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM).
The Directorate of Judicial Services (DSJ) also recognizes that "delivering justice in Corsica is not an easy task".
But to add: "However, this complexity cannot be an excuse".
"I understood when I discovered who the informants were"
According to a relative, Judge Cornu "went wild when he was relieved" of a double murder case.
At the hearing, he said it moreover: "Without relinquishment, I would not be in front of you".
The cases of assassinations in the Eastern Plain, a micro-region south of Bastia, were withdrawn from him after he denounced a system in which informers have an important place, despite suspicions weighing on them.
"Indicators can gain traction with investigators and the relationship is reversed," he explains.
At this point, they take the ascendancy over the officer in charge.
When I arrived in Corsica, I did not understand why there were leaks, why nothing could be found in searches.
I understood when I discovered who the informers were ”.
It has in mind Olivier Sisti, a restaurateur who escaped four attempted murders and who has been suspected in others.
It is he who is at the origin of the first complaint before the CSM for lack of impartiality.
This first procedure resulted in an incidental complaint from the Minister of Justice for breaches of the duties of reserve, loyalty and delicacy, and breach of professional secrecy.
"Shame to send these files to the dismissal ..."
The case ultimately ends with a reprimand pronounced on July 12, 2017, which will be canceled by the Council of State two years later.
The court considered that the CSM had not responded to the defense of saying that the eavesdropping on which the whole procedure is based is illegal.
On July 17, 2015, contacted at his office by the widow of a man murdered in April 2012, the magistrate had poured out his thoughts.
The woman on the phone threatened to form a collective to demand accountability from justice.
To dissuade him, he delivers: “The prosecution knows that there are black sheep
(Editor's note: within the gendarmerie)
, but refuses to act
[…].
I am sorry that all these files go to basket
[…].
I am so ashamed to send these files
(Editor's note: five assassination cases)
to the non-place… ”
Thus begins the slow descent into hell of a magistrate with a "promising career" according to his first notations.
Its leaders describe it as "rigorous", "dynamic".
Same assessments at the end of his first year in Corsica in 2014. It is then specified that he has "healthy and organized management of his office".
The tone changes the following year.
He is accused of carrying out his "interrogations [in a] disjointed manner, without a common thread."
Illegal phone tapping?
The widow was wiretapped with the authorization of the judge of freedoms and detention (JLD), as part of an investigation into criminal association with a view to committing an organized murder.
And the transcription of the exchange quickly goes back to the hierarchy of Judge Cornu.
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
During his first appearance, François-Marie Cornu had nevertheless argued that this listening "had been carried out under irregular conditions, contrary to the respect for private life guaranteed by Article 8 of the Convention on Human Rights and fundamental liberties ".
For the Council of State, the CSM quickly dismissed this means of defense, "without responding".
Now the CSM says that although incidental, this eavesdropping can be exploited.
What challenges Me Olivier Morice, the magistrate's lawyer: “The judge of freedoms and detention was not kept informed of the existence of this listening which should normally be the case.
This makes it illegal ”.
The direction of the judicial services answers in a rather surprising way: "The JLD must have been informed of this listening".
A mysterious Twitter account
In this procedure, the chancellery added a new grievance against judge Cornu in February 2020: a new breach of the duty of confidentiality via a Twitter account in the name of the magistrate and on which several documents resulting from the procedure were published, mainly certificates former colleagues.
"This Twitter account is not mine," says François-Marie Cornu, pointing out that there was no bailiff finding.
But for the direction of the judicial services, there is a bundle of clues: "The published documents are all in his possession and support his defense".
The DSJ demanded against the magistrate the lowering of one step, a stronger sanction than reprimand. The decision will be made on December 16.
