The prefect of police Didier Lallement and senior magistrates have been targeted "since mid-December" by an investigation by the Nanterre public prosecutor's office for "false testimony".
At issue: statements made during hearings in the National Assembly on the independence of the judiciary.
In addition to the Paris police prefect, the president of the Paris Court of Appeal Jean-Michel Hayat, the Paris prosecutor general Catherine Champrenault, the Paris prosecutor Rémy Heitz as well as the former prosecutor of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office are concerned ( PNF) Eliane Houlette.
To date, no accused has been summoned as part of this disoriented investigation in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), said the prosecution.
At the origin of this affair, there is the rebellious deputy Ugo Bernalicis.
In September 2020, the LFI president of the commission of inquiry on the independence of justice in the National Assembly accused seven senior officials of "false testimony" and "perjury" before parliamentarians, pronounced during a committee of investigation into the obstacles to the independence of the judiciary.
"Yellow vests", Fillon case
The rebel elected then seized the public prosecutor of Paris, Rémy Heitz, targeted in the first place by one of these reports.
In one of Ugo Bernalicis' letters to justice, which AFP was able to consult, the deputy points to an internal note on the fate of yellow vests arrested, while Rémy Heitz assured to have "signed no document giving instructions to (his) colleagues ”.
Questioned on this subject within the framework of a commission on the maintenance of order at the end of November, the prosecutor Heitz affirmed that the mentioned document "was not a note of the prosecutor but a practical document sent to the magistrates of duty".
Prefect Lallement is accused of not having told the truth when he said he had not "found the organizers" of unauthorized police demonstrations in June.
Asked by AFP, the police headquarters did not wish to react.
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Concerning Catherine Champrenault, attorney general of Paris, and Eliane Houlette, former prosecutor of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), Ugo Bernalicis highlights “discordant statements” on interventions in the context of the Fillon affair.
"Lies have been deliberately spoken", deduces the deputy from the North.
Undeclared police demonstrations: with Lallement, it's easy.
pic.twitter.com/mat1M6K5pK
- Alexis Poulin (@ Poulin2012) June 24, 2020
The president of the Paris court of appeal and former president of the Paris court, Jean-Michel Hayat, is also suspected of "perjury" on the reasons for the appointment of Judge Tournaire in the same Fillon file.
Very rare convictions for "false testimony"
Initially separate, the five reports were grouped together within the same file, the Nanterre prosecutor's office told AFP.
The Paris prosecutor's office, for its part, indicated that the reports concerning the director general of the national police, Frédéric Veaux, and the former prosecutor of Nice, Jean-Michel Prêtre, were “being processed”.
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False testimony is punishable by five years' imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros, but convictions for false testimony are extremely rare, as case law requires demonstrating a clear intention to deceive parliamentarians.
In June 2019, a procedure opened by the Paris prosecutor's office for suspicion of "false testimony" before the senatorial commission of inquiry into the Benalla affair, and targeting Emmanuel Macron's chief of staff Patrick Strzoda had been closed. .