The highest magistrate of France, François Molins, will he be forced by the Court of Cassation to be heard in the investigation targeting the Minister of Justice for “illegal taking of interest”. Following the request in this direction of Eric Dupond-Moretti, the institution must pronounce this Tuesday.
The minister indeed contests the refusal of the three magistrates of the investigating committee of the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) to hear the prosecutor at the Court of Cassation François Molins. A decision confirmed on appeal by these same judges.
During a new hearing, on December 10, the lawyer of Eric Dupond-Moretti, master Patrice Spinosi, had denounced “an excess of power” of the CJR. He also criticized the procedure which “dysfunction” and would not guarantee the fundamental rights of the minister.
A phone call at the heart of the demand
At the center of the request is a phone call, made in mid-September 2020 by Véronique Malbec, chief of staff to the Minister of Justice, to François Molins, also president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM). The call related to the follow-up to be given to a first report from the General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ) on the functioning of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) after an investigation by it around Nicolas Sarkozy, recalls AFP .
During this conversation, the Attorney General Molins informed the director of cabinet that the referral to the IGJ seemed more appropriate than the CSM, no disciplinary fault of the magistrates having been pointed out. It was a “procedural reminder of principle” and not an advice, explained François Molins in a letter addressed to the CJR.
The minister indicted since July
Eric Dupond-Moretti has been indicted since July 16 for “illegal taking of interest”. He is particularly suspected of having taken advantage of his position as minister to settle accounts with three magistrates of the PNF, by ordering an administrative investigation, carried out by the IGJ, against them in September 2020. These magistrates had his telephone records scrutinized detailed (the “fadettes”), while he was still a lawyer, in this investigation around Nicolas Sarkozy.
In his defense, the Keeper of the Seals assures that he has done nothing but “follow the recommendations” of his administration, by asking for this administrative investigation. His lawyer considers that the testimony of François Molins is essential “for the manifestation of the truth (because he has) issued an opinion on the initiation of the administrative investigation which today constitutes one of the essential elements” of the prosecution. against Eric Dupond-Moretti.