French justice ministry searched in probe against minister

French justice ministry searched in probe against minister

PARIS: French police were searching the ministry of justice yesterday as part of a conflict of interest probe against the justice minister, a former star defence lawyer, a judicial source said. Eric Dupond-Moretti was named justice minister last summer in a controversial move by President Emmanuel Macron that annoyed some magistrates and prosecutors, who felt the appointment of the flamboyant lawyer to be deeply inappropriate.

The Law Court of the Republic (CJR), the only French authority with the power to try ministers for alleged abuses carried out while in office, opened a probe in January against Dupond-Moretti into conflicts of interest owing to his past job. The inquiry was opened following complaints filed by three magistrate unions and the Anticor anti-corruption association.

The French weekly Canard Enchaine reported this week that Dupond-Moretti will himself soon be summoned by CJR magistrates to be questioned. In an unusual move, Prime Minister Jean Castex was himself questioned by the CJR as a witness in the case on June 7. At the heart of the accusations is the administrative investigation ordered by Dupond-Moretti in September against three magistrates of the powerful National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF).

They took part in an investigation aimed at identifying the mole