2023-11-09 21:46:33
Officially, no one is there “to settle scores”. But the hearing of François Molins at the trial of Eric Dupond-Moretti on Thursday was still an opportunity for the former high magistrate and the Minister of Justice to say a certain number of things.
The witness enters the courtroom with a closed face, without a glance at the Minister of Justice seated at a table in the courtroom. “François Molins, 70 years old, retired since July 1,” says the former attorney general of the Court of Cassation at the desk.
He wants to start with an update on his “bad” relations with the minister. “I am not here to settle scores,” he said, but “I have had a particularly hard time with the accusations once morest me for three years.”
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“It’s false,” he maintains under the smirk of Eric Dupond-Moretti behind him: “At the age I am, I am too attached to my independence.”
In this case of “illegal taking of interest” which earned the Minister of Justice this unprecedented trial before the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), Eric Dupond-Moretti affirms that François Molins advised him to open an administrative investigation once morest three magistrates from the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF)… before expressing indignation at the conflict of interest a few days later in a “scandalous” column published in the newspaper Le Monde. Then, a few months later, to launch proceedings once morest him.
The case began in June 2020, when Eric Dupond-Moretti, still a lawyer, castigated “barbouzard methods” and the shift into “the Republic of Judges” following learning that PNF magistrates had had his detailed invoices scrutinized in looking for a “mole” in a file linked to ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Also read Eric Dupond-Moretti: “For me and for my loved ones, this trial is an infamy”
Soap and hot potato
Faced with the “excitement” caused, his predecessor Nicole Belloubet requested an “operational inspection”. Once he became minister, Eric Dupond-Moretti ordered an administrative investigation once morest the PNF magistrates.
This, notably on the “advice” of François Molins, supports the defense of Eric Dupond-Moretti. On the stand, her former chief of staff Véronique Malbec recounted the “friendly” phone call she had made to François Molins, to find out what to do with this inspection report.
“I tell him, what do you think? “. After reading the report, “he replied to me: Frankly, a referral to the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM, the disciplinary body of magistrates) is premature, but on the other hand I think it would be useful to have an administrative investigation “.
“What I say to Ms. Malbec,” seethes Mr. Molins, is that a referral to the CSM is “completely unthinkable” since the “operational inspection” does not point to any individual fault. “I say that if they want to go to disciplinary, they must go through an administrative investigation.”
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A simple reminder of “a rule of law”, is indignant to those who think that we wanted to “exploit” him by giving him “the hot potato” to “protect the minister”.
Faithful to his habit, the minister comments behind the witness’s back (“That’s it”, “Ah good”, “But yes…”) and multiplies the indignant pouts. But he ultimately stands better than since the trial opened on Monday, to the disappointment, perhaps, of the crowd who came in large numbers and in advance to try to get a place in the courtroom.
To François Molins, the court asks why he does not warn Eric Dupond-Moretti’s office of the possible conflict of interest. “Everyone knew him! », exclaims the former high magistrate. And he is not “advisor to the minister, not there to compensate for the deficiencies of his cabinet”.
Also read Eric Dupond-Moretti, the Minister of Justice caught by the courts
“I am not blamed,” he repeats several times. “The defendant is Eric Dupond-Moretti.”
The latter asks to speak, takes the place of the witness on the stand. Still not a glance exchanged.
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