“I’m one of that tiny tiny group, in every country, of the few people who have done extensive research into the situation. In France we are only two or three people, no more. “ Against the backdrop of new age music, the face distorted by a yellow filter, which slowly delivers these words, is that of Eric Fiorile. This video, posted on September 6 on the Odysee platform, known to host the productions of a number of proponents of conspiratorial theses, is one of the first produced by the president of the “National Transitional Council” (CNT) since his release in July after seven months in pre-trial detention. If the man is known for his anti-government activism, the “Pandora Papers” show that he is also a follower of offshore finance through a company domiciled in Seychelles.
What are the “Pandora Papers”?
“Pandora Papers” is a collaborative investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in partnership with 150 international media, including The world. It is based on the leak of nearly 12 million confidential documents, transmitted by an anonymous source to the ICIJ, from the archives of fourteen firms specializing in the creation of offshore companies in tax havens (British Virgin Islands, Dubai, Singapore, Panama, the Seychelles…).
Five years after the “Panama Papers”, the survey reveals the extent of the abuses of the offshore industry and its limited companies. She shows how this system benefits hundreds of policymakers, and how new tax havens are taking over as old ones convert to transparency.
Mr. Fiorile, 66, was arrested in December 2020 as part of a crackdown by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) against conspiratorial far-right circles. He was suspected of being close to another groupuscular movement, that of the “Barjols”, which planned the assassination of Emmanuel Macron. He was eventually remanded in custody for “Illegal possession of a category B weapon” and released pending trial.
Mr. Fiorile is an already old figure of conspiratorial movements, active on social networks since the 2010s and controversial, including in these circles yet not stingy in dubious characters. With the CNT, he dreams of establishing “demosophy”, a concept of his invention aimed at entrusting power to “Managers selected by studies, then by competition”, who would act under the direction of “Supreme authority”, a thousand people drawn.
Call for a “citizen coup”
The concept, which Mr. Fiorile has been disseminating since the 1990s – his YouTube channel had up to 45,000 subscribers before it was deleted – has earned him the support of a few hundred faithful who are quick to take action, for example by painting mysterious green circles on the sidewalks. In 2015, the movement dreamed of a “Citizen coup”, a call that he then relaunched in 2016, then in 2018. In March 2021, doctors in Morbihan received “Summons” signed by the CNT, threatening to be “Brought before a military-popular tribunal” for their role in the health policy implemented against Covid-19, castigated by the small group.
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