French prisons are often
overcrowded and
inhumane. In
December, 69.992 people were locked up (+11.1% compared to 2020). There were 60,775 places (+0.2%) available, an occupancy rate of 115%, yet 1592 inmates had to sleep on mattresses on the floor (+143.4%). There are almost twice as many people in prison in France than in The
Netherlands or Sweden. But now things are getting even more unpleasant: one (ex-)politician after another is joining the army of lawbreakers—a small anthology from the past few weeks.
Let’s start with the arrest of
Alexandre Benalla. Again. Over two days, Macron’s former bodyguard and his wife were interrogated about contracts he allegedly signed with two Russian oligarchs when he worked at the Elysée Palace. In November, Benalla had already been
sentenced to three years in prison - one of them under house arrest - for carrying a weapon without a licence and playing policeman in his spare time.
Another former frequent visitor to the Elysée, Claude Guéant, spent the holidays in the VIP wing of the infamous
Santé prison in Paris (which opened in 1867). Sarkozy’s former chief of staff and interior minister received two years (one of which suspended) in 2017 in
a corruption scandal. Thanks to loans from friends, Guéant was able to pay his overdue fine of
292,000 euros last week. But for the time being, he remains behind bars. According to his lawyer, Guéant lives it
“badly, very badly”.
François Fillon, Sarkozy’s Prime Minister, faces a
new financial misconduct inquiry. In June 2020, he received a five-year prison sentence (three years suspended). The Court heard his appeal
in November and the judgement is expected on
May 9th. But keep your sympathy. Russian petrochemical giant
Sibur hired the former French PM as an
‘independent Director’ at the Board. When sending this newsletter, it was not entirely clear whether this was just another of Fillon’s
fake jobs.
Fillon’s old chief, Nicolas Sarkozy, received sentences of three years and
one year, respectively, in two separate trials in 2021. In both cases, he appealed. A third trial, the so-called
Libyan Election Financing, is expected to start later this year.
👏Yes Minister
In Macronland, not everyone is spotless either. In December, Minister for Small Business
Alain Griset was sentenced to six months probation and three years’ ineligibility because he had concealed a savings account of €170,000 from the tax authorities. The former taxi driver resigned after his conviction but will appeal. Tomorrow (Tuesday), Griset will have to stand trial
for breach of trust. In September, Macron’s former minister Agnes Buzyn was charged for the way she
handled the pandemic. She resigned but was awarded the Légion d’Honneur on
New Year’s Day. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti was
indicted over alleged abuse of power and influence. He kept his job.
💔#MeToo Moi non plus
For the sake of journalistic balance, some offences on the left: Although the #metoo movement has had
less impact in France than in most Western countries (
“We’re French, we flirt”), more and more women dare to speak out against sexual abuse. In November,
285 women working in politics and academia called for
“perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence” to be removed from political life. A week later, former Minister
Nicolas Hulot and former Junior Minister
Jean-Vincent Placé (ex-EELV) were accused of sexual harassment. They are not the only misbehaving: Former minister and newspaper tycoon Jean-Michel Baylet allegedly
raped a teenage girl. At the same time, MP Benoît Simian (ex-LREM) is suspected of abusing his ex-wife in a heated divorce. He is still an MP.
The former MP
Henri Jibrayel used public money to play in a casino. The socialist must have thought,
‘Everything on red’. He goes
directly to jail and does not pass go. Last year, he had already been sentenced to ten months house arrest for organising a few sea trips for 1,200 older people hoping to win their votes. That plan fell through. The mayor of Roubaix, Guillaume Delbar, got
six months probation for fraud and membership in a criminal organisation. He
refuses to resign. The
mayor of Toulon, Hubert Falco (ex-LR), secretary of state under Chirac and Sarkozy, was arrested for allegedly consuming lobsters and champagne at the taxpayers’ expense for years. The affair was called “Falco’s
Fridge”.
“Lies!” according to the glutton himself. The mayor of the southern town of Sanary-sur-Mer received a three-year prison sentence (of which two suspended) for corruption. He will appeal in cassation. A municipal councillor in Grenoble and his wife were given two years imprisonment (one of which suspended) for human trafficking and housing illegal Vietnamese restaurant workers. Then there was a former police officer from the Elysée Palace who was convicted of industrial espionage. He will have to serve three years in one of the country’s dirty dungeons. The filthy conditions in French prisons also resulted in a ruling from the
Council of State last week. The state must pay a penalty of one thousand euros for every day the tenants in the Fresnes prison (one of the largest and oldest in Europe) do not receive soap and towels. The state had already been ordered by a court in 2017 to put its hygiene in order, but the fate of prisoners is clearly not a political priority. It’s not just Downing Street that needs to
come clean.