French justice minister Dupond-Moretti heads to court over alleged conflict of interest

Issued on: 16/07/2021 – 06:27

The 60-year-old star lawyer was recruited by President Emmanuel Macron just a year ago, swapping his life as one of the country’s most famous criminal lawyers for a career in politics.

Now he stands accused of abusing his position as minister to settle scores with opponents from his legal career, and he will appear before the Law Court of the Republic (CJR) Friday.

The court hears cases of alleged wrongdoing by serving ministers, and he will be questioned by magistrates who will decide whether to press charges.

Investigators spent 15 hours searching Dupond-Moretti’s office at the justice ministry on July 1 for evidence.

The minister’s aides have described him as “serene and determined to explain himself” ahead of Friday’s court appearance.

The accusations relate to inquiries into three judges who ordered police in 2014 to pore through the phone records of dozens of lawyers and magistrates, including Dupond-Moretti, as part of an investigation into former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

The judiciary accused Dupond-Moretti of a witch-hunt.

He denied the allegations, saying he was merely acting on the recommendations of his staff to investigate possible failings on the part of the magistrates who oversaw the seizures of the phone records.

If Dupond-Moretti is charged with conflict of interest by a person in a position of public authority, Macron is likely to face calls from the opposition to sack him.

So far the minister’s entourage has rebuffed those calls, insisting he has the support of the president.

‘It’s complicated’

Dupond-Moretti would not be the first member of Macron’s top team to be charged with an offence.

Shortly after his election in 2017 Macron dismissed his close aide Richard Ferrand from his post as minister for territorial cohesion after he was placed under investigation over claims he favoured his wife in a lucrative property deal with a public health insurance fund.

Ferrand later made a comeback in a more senior role as parliament speaker—a job he kept after being charged with conflict of interest.

One cabinet member told AFP she was not certain that the combative Dupond-Moretti, famous for his record of getting his clients acquitted, could survive the scandal if he was charged.

“It’s complicated, especially when you’re justice minister,” she said.

Dupond-Moretti goes into Friday’s court hearing weakened by recent revelations that he failed to declare 300,000 euros ($350,000) in royalties he earned from a one-man show in which he starred while still a lawyer.

Last week he admitted to making a “mistake” on his tax form. His aides say he has since settled the bill arising from the royalties on his one-man theatre production entitled “Eric Dupond-Moretti to the Bar”.

On the electoral front, too, he suffered a major setback when he stood for office for the first time in last month’s regional and departmental elections, winning less than 10 percent of the vote.

(AFP)