The former head of the Parisian judicial police, Christian Flaesch, indicted in the vast investigation targeting the ex-boss of internal intelligence Bernard Squarcini, was denied Thursday a plea-guilty procedure which would have avoided a trial. in corrections.
The former head of the Parisian judicial police, Christian Flaesch, indicted in the vast investigation targeting the ex-boss of internal intelligence Bernard Squarcini, was denied Thursday a plea-guilty procedure which would have avoided a trial. in corrections. Mr. Flaesch, who converted to the private sector after being sacked in December 2013 by the Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls, had accepted an appearance procedure on prior recognition of guilt (CRPC). The CRPC – a sort of French “plead-guilty” – is based on an agreement between the prosecution and the perpetrator of an offence, who acknowledges his guilt and is offered a sentence. But a judge must then give the green light in a so-called probate hearing.
During this hearing Thursday morning at the Paris court, Mr. Flaesch, indicted in October 2016 in particular for violation of the secrecy of the investigation, admitted the facts and accepted a fine of 15,000 euros, including 5,000 suspended. He is accused of having delivered in April 2013, while he was at the head of 36, Quai des orfèvres, elements on an ongoing investigation to Bernard Squarcini, when the latter had left the DCRI (internal intelligence) and got into security consulting. However, the elements exchanged between the two former great cops concerned the luxury group LVMH, for which Bernard Squarcini then worked.
“Orient the penal response towards a fine”
During the hearing, the prosecutor explained that “it had been decided to orient the criminal response towards a fine, but to retain the maximum legally incurred”, with part of the suspended sentence because the facts were “punctual and “should not conceal the quality and importance of the services rendered” by Mr. Flaesch as a PJ official. After a suspension, the president of the court however refused to validate this sentence. “Without affecting your overall action within the police (…) with regard to the nature of the facts and the nature of the sentence proposed, it seems to me necessary to have an ordinary correctional hearing” , she explained. Mr. Flaesch’s file therefore returns to the hands of the investigating judge. As the CRPC was not approved, the fact that the former police officer admitted his guilt cannot be held against him.
Justice has been interested since 2011 in the troubled links between Bernard Squarcini, former boss of the Central Directorate of Internal Intelligence (DCRI, now DGSI) and private interests, including LVMH. In December, the luxury group agreed to conclude a legal convention of public interest (Cjip), thus avoiding prosecution in this judicial investigation with drawers, in exchange for a fine of 10 million euros.
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