A prefect targeted by a judicial investigation for "harassment".
An investigating judge from Bastia is investigating the boss of civil security in France, Alain Thirion, implicated by a colleague when she worked as sub-prefect under his orders in Calvi.
Anne Ballereau, 65, who officiated on the Isle of Beauty between September 2014 and August 2016, has accused the former prefect of Haute-Corse, 59 today, of moral and sexual harassment since December 2019.
The Bastia public prosecutor's office had dismissed a first preliminary investigation in March 2021.
According to elements of a summary from the end of 2020, the Bastia PJ estimated the sexual harassment "confirmed by testimonies attesting to the sexist nicknames given to the interlocutors and inappropriate remarks, in Corsica as in the Aude", where Alain Thirion was prefect after Bastia.
“Maybe she imagined things”
Anne Ballereau accused him in particular of having repeatedly insisted that she sleep at the prefecture.
But the investigators wondered about the moral harassment: did it fall under professional relations that are classically harsh in positions with high responsibilities, or did it constitute a criminal offense by a prefect exceeding his powers?
At the end of their investigation, they attributed to him "a contentious management, sometimes punctuated by inappropriate remarks".
To his credit, four senior officials had testified to the “same process of destabilization towards them” or “aggressiveness”.
Two former subordinates in the Aude made Alain Thirion responsible for their "burn-out", one evoking enormous "pressure" and "comments on outfits, hairstyle, glasses, beard".
“Ms. Ballereau is the only victim to have filed a complaint, the others saying they fear for their careers,” noted the PJ.
The sub-prefect, "rigorous" but "suspicious", according to a psychiatric report, was, according to the investigators, "in opposition to the instructions of her prefect, of whom she mistrusted".
An “underlying climate of confrontation”
Placed in police custody at the end of July 2020, Alain Thirion had challenged "false" accusations to "harm" him and excluded any "inappropriate gesture": "Perhaps she imagined things", he said. he let go.
On labor relations, he had recognized the possibility of “disagreements”.
During his confrontation with Anne Ballereau, the prefect said he was "sorry" for his "deep wound".
On the other reviews, he had “regretted (…) clumsy formulations” from which he wants to “draw a certain number of lessons.
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At the end of its investigations, the PJ of Bastia had hesitated: “In an underlying climate of confrontation, the characterization of moral harassment remains complex because it is difficult to assess”.
“Many innuendos with a sexual connotation”
The prosecution had finally decided by classifying the investigation for "insufficiently characterized offense".
Anne Ballereau, who declined to comment, filed a complaint in January with civil action.
This document criticizes Alain Thirion for “several precise and extremely telling events”: bullying, denigration in front of witnesses… And “many innuendos with a sexual connotation, inappropriate gestures, humiliating remarks and harassing behavior”.
“There has already been a specific investigation.
Unfortunately, the prosecution did not go to the end of things and we do not share its analysis.
Ms. Ballereau has decided to take legal action so that the truth comes out, ”said her lawyers, Me Alexandre Martin and Emmanuelle Franck.
A complaint for “slanderous denunciation”
Contacted, the public prosecutor of Bastia, Arnaud Viornery, confirmed the appointment of an investigating judge.
According to several sources, the complainant is to be heard on May 24.
Alain Thirion has been Director of Civil Security at the Ministry of the Interior since mid-2019.
"The Bastia public prosecutor's office has already rendered a decision to classify without follow-up after having carried out long and meticulous investigations, but also in the light of the conclusions of the complainant's psychiatric expertise", underlined Me Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard. , lawyer for the prefect.
"This new initiative, surprisingly publicized, will nevertheless allow the continuation of the complaint immediately filed by Alain Thirion for slanderous denunciation", also filed in March 2021, added his counsel.
