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Юрий Сафронов, Наталия Данилова
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Preserved copy
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Hello, is it a garage or laundry?
The head of the Ministry of Culture of France was sent to trial with the scandalous ex-head of Renault-Nissan
Minister of Culture of France Rashid Dati. Photo: Yuri Safronov / "New Gazeta"
The Rashida Dati case, one of the key figures of the French government, was sent to court on charges of corruption. Her “partner” on the process should be the former Renault-Nissan general director Carlos Gon, previously (alive) taken out from the arrest in Japan in a box for musical equipment. At the same time, the Elysee Palace said that the criminal case was not an occasion for the dismissal of Madame Dati from the government, but the Minister of Justice, calling her the “great woman”, “expressed hope” for her justification in court. She herself talks about a “conspiracy” in order to prevent her from becoming mayor of Paris, fiercely fighting off new accusations - including lobbying for Azerbaijan's interests in Europe.
First, about who is 59-year-old Rashid Dati in the world of French politics. Firstly, she, who made an incredible career, despite the origin (daughter of a Moroccan mason and an Algerian housewife, the second child in a family of eleven children) is one of the faithful “associates” of ex-president Sarkozi , who owes his climbing and in which he was appointed Minister of Justice (in the government of Francois Fiion , 2007-2009).
In the past seventeen years, she also holds the post of mayor of the bourgeois VII district of Paris-where, by the way, with its assistance*, a step from the Eiffel Towerbuilt the “Russian spiritual and cultural Orthodox center”.
In January 2024, he was appointed Minister of Culture of France-and remains in this post, despite the fact that three compositions of government have changed during this time. In the current Cabinet, there is only one person who retains a post longer - the Minister of the Armed Forces of Sebastian Lekornny.
Finally, the representative of the Rashid Dati right -wing party does not hide her intention to win Paris next year, becoming the mayor of the whole city, which is continuously controlled by socialists, according to the results of the municipal elections.
What is the essence of the "Renault"
At the same time, for several years, Madame Dati has been accompanied by corruption scandals in the press. The first of them has now gained specific legal outlines. On July 22, Pierre Greensnir and Mari-Katrin Yidiar, investigative judges of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), according to the results of the investigation in 2019, transferred the case against Rashida Dati and Carlos Gona ** to the Paris Criminal Court. In their resolution , investigators said that the Dati should face the court for “passive corruption and trade in the influence of a person endowed with a public electoral mandate in the framework of an international organization (in this case of the European Parliament)” and “covering abuse of power and trust”. As for the rut, he, as LE Monde clarifies, is accused of “abuse of power by the head of the company”, “abuse of trust”, “active corruption and influence of influence”.
According to the investigation, Dati received 900 thousand euros in 2010-2012 as part of an agreement on the provision of consulting services signed with the RNBV-the Dutch structure of the Renault-Nissan alliance. However, it is claimed, she actually did not carry out the work mentioned in the agreement, and the actions of Dati as a Eurodper (2009-2019) on the lobbying for the interests of Renault-Nissan in the European Parliament could hide the formulation of consulting services. And such activities are strictly prohibited.
Madam Dati, by the way, took the oath of a lawyer after she signed an agreement with the company to pay for “assistance in legal and regulatory aspects of determining the policy of international expansion of the group, in particular in the countries of the Middle East and Maghreb”
The prosecutor's office came to the conclusion that this agreement "is a legal cover, under which a corruption pact was hidden between Carlos Gon and Rashida Dati." And a reward of almost a million euros is “disadvantaged and unjustified”.
At the same time, the “only data” confirming the “consulting services”, “are evidence and come from persons affected by the investigation and (therefore) interested” in their provision, ”the indictment emphasizes.
“For me, Rashid Dati was an asset for Renault in his activities to promote brands and business diplomacy in Morocco, Algeria, Turkey, Iran,” the statement quoted Monde as a statement by Carlos Gon himself, who noted in answers to questions of the investigation that Madame Dati “herself offered her services”. The proposal, I must say, successfully coincided with the departure of the current President of France Nicolas Sarkozy from the government.
The effectiveness of the actions of the Euro deput Daty as a lobbyist (if she was) is better known in the company itself, but the investigation found her written requests in the EP on the automotive industry.
“The desire of Ms. Dati to use his possibilities in the interests of Mr. Gonu and Renault-Nissan BV (for fees) <...> inevitably put her in a situation of conflict of interests with her duties of the deputy in each of the performances <...> in the European parliament,” the investigative judges say that the deputy “never informed” the BI “about this situations ".
Before making a decision on the transfer of the case to the court, PNF investigators issued another decision, in which they recognized as unreasonable the demand for the resumption of the investigation submitted by the Dati due to the "missing document in the case."
The magazine Le Nouvel OBS notes that since the opening of the Dati case “has repeatedly resorted to the tactics of delaying the process: I applied for requests for transferring the case to another jurisdiction, demanded recognition of the expiration of the statute of limitations, sought the invalidity of the procedures, asked for additional investigative actions, petitioned for the introduction of new documents ...”.
Context
Probably, the Minister of Culture was important to do everything possible so that this business did not affect her battle for the City Hall of Paris, which should end in March 2026. The court sessions are not the best background for the election campaign. And besides, in the event of a conviction before the election, Madame Dati would even risk it: given her status and presented articles, it would be very likely to introduce an immediate prohibition of nomination - following the example of Marin Le Pen.
In 2020, Dati lost the election to the current mayor of Ann Idalgo, but she already announced that she would not go for a new term and nominated not a very rating “successor”, and the latestires confirmed that the Minister of Culture had high chances of “revenge”.
“I will bring you to victory,” Dati said on the eve of sending the case to court, on July 21, to about 250 supporters gathered in the restaurant of her district for a “political dinner”. “Some people are trying to attack me-my personal life, other aspects that are not related to the candidate. I'm not afraid of anyone, ”she assured (according to the AFP correspondent).
“Those who are concerned about this, the mayor of the 7th district replies that the court will not take place before the municipal elections in March 2026, and in the event of a sentence, it will appeal. After Gabriel Attal ( ex-prime minister and the current head of the Macron Party and the faction.- Yu. S. ) withdrew from the race for the city hall ( and began to prepare for the struggle for the Elysee.- Yu. S. ),
Dati remains the only heavy figure capable of uniting the right and centriant flanks under a single banner ",
- Notes Le Nouvel OBS.
Perhaps this fact also explains that the dates remains in the composition of three governments in a row - despite the fact that in the conditional “Macron camp”, according to the media, there are many opponents of its candidacy. And even the “antidatist front” is formed with the participation of several former ministers and ex-Prime Minister Eduar Philip to support another candidate.
“But this does not bother the candidate - at least outwardly,” writes Nouvel OBS: “She does not show anything, but in private - she is very nervous,” one of her recent interlocutors assures.
According to the publication, finding herself in a difficult situation, Madame Dati turned to the old patron - met with Nicolas Sarkozy and even offered his son Louis to lead her pre -election list in one of the districts of the capital (and at the same time “to get out with the mayor of the district <...>, which she hates”). Louis Sarkozy, they say, refused the proposal, but his dad, perhaps, promised something-within the framework of his strongly cut capabilities of the ex-president of many years ago, the criminal and the defendant of several more criminal cases.
“Rashida will not let nothing. It will reach the end, even if you have to blow up everyone around you, ” -
Predicts in the journal Nouvel OBS “One of its regular interlocutors”. “The minister continues to send threatening messages to his opponents and critics. With one reservation: since the appointment of Rashid to the government, Dati switched to messages with the timer. Now all her messages disappear after 24 hours, ”the magazine notes.
Rashida Dati's position and her criticism
Both defendants in this case - both Dati and Carlos Gon ** - deny all the accusations. “Today we are appealing to this decision,” Lawyers Madame Dati told AFP on the day the case is sent to the court.
That evening, the Minister of Culture took the air of the LCI channel, criticized the “procedure abundant by violations”, and accused judicial investigators of “protruding the rights of protection”.
She assured in reality her work as a lawyer on Renault and denied lobbying in the European parliament. She motivated this: “The head of the largest automobile industrial group in the world, <...> Do you think that I needed Carlos Gon?”
She noted that the case was sent to court "at the moment when I was nominated by a candidate for the post of mayor of Paris." And she stated that “she would not renounce anything” - neither from the ministerial chair, nor from her claims to the city hall.
According to her, the head of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office, Jean-Franesua Boert, "received (her) in his office for 2.5 hours." She described the details: “We talked about this case. And he said, looking directly into my eyes that my business was not crumbling and that he even had difficulties with his prosecutor's office. ”
“I quote him, and he will not be able to refute me,” the accused assured.
The very next day, the prosecutor denied everything. The head of the PNF Bart said in a communique,
that the decision to transfer the case to the court was "issued by independent investigative judges." And he confirmed his “full support” and “full trust” for the magistrates of the national financial prosecutor's office, “especially those who are responsible for this procedure.”
“Throughout the trial (Dati), she could freely, like any accused, defend her rights and use all the means of legal protection that she considered useful,” assured the chief financial prosecutor of France.
On the same day, the chairman of the Paris Criminal Court, Payman Gale-Marzban, joined the criticism of “attacks on justice”. He declared in his communique: “If any person has the right to freely represent the arguments in his defense, including publicly, as part of the exercise of the right to the presumption of innocence, then applying a public blow to the reputation of magistrates obliged to observe neutrality and unable to respond to such attacks, undermines the authority of the judiciary and destroys the legitimate trust of citizens of justice.”
Many media and the opposition saw in criticizing Ms. Dati “manifestation of Trump methods” of attacks on justice. The Secretary General of the Socialist Party Pierre Zhouve, as well as the “successor” of the current mayor, the socialist Emmanuel Greguar, as well as the candidate from the right -centric party “Horizons” and others, demanded the resignation of the Minister of Culture. “Paris is worthy of the mayor, not the defendant,” Greguar remarked in the column for Nouvel OBS .
“We already knew that the right and macronists have no project for Paris, now we know that they have as a candidate - a minister accused of serious corruption crimes. What a disrespect for the Parisians! " - said in a comment by AFP the candidate from the Green David Bellia.
President's position
Emmanuel Macron “took note” of the court decision. “Since the transfer of the case to the court is not a guilty of guilt, it continues to fulfill its duties in the government,” the environment of the head of state told France-Presse.
Rashid Dati “is under the protection of the presidential couple - Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron,” says Nouvel OBS. - But this is the same president who in 2017 promised to fight for the "moralization of political life." Nevertheless, he appointed it to the Minister of Culture in January 2024, despite the volume and severity of its judicial dossier. And, as close associates say, does not regret it. The President highly appreciates her political flair and the ability to occupy a media space <...>.
But first of all, Macron appreciates her loyalty - in private, he does not hide how important it is for him ... ”
Further, the magazine gives two examples when Madame Dati immediately “stood up” for the president in the media in difficult times.
The Minister of Justice of France (another “chick of the sarcose nest”) Gerald Darmanen has now stood up for the very lady of Dati. On the air of the First National Channel, TF1, the guarantor of justice said : “I cannot comment on the judicial procedure, but it is obvious that Rashida Dati is an outstanding woman politician, and I warmly wish her to become the mayor of Paris. First of all (before the trial) it is considered innocent, and let's not be too hastily throwing a shadow at people. ”
Other scandals
If you continue about the defenders, then Madame Dati’s arrival was noteworthy in the same car with the Minister of the Armed Forces of Sebastian Lekorni for a solemn dinner at the Champs Elysees on June 6. Dinner was arranged in honor of the President of Brazil, but this is not important, but the fact that the extremely emotional lady Dati seemed to be physically necessary at least such support for one of the “heavyweights” of the government. In whose hand she clung to, as if showing photographers that she also has such a defender. Neither before or after the “pair” was seen together - neither I nor other journalists - at least I could not find such information.
Having taken these photos, I only later found out that right before this dinner, June 4, in the Nouvel OBS magazine and on the France 2 television channel in the popular investigative program Complément d'Enqueth, an investigation was published about another “Dati case”. Journalists told how she, as an euro deputy, received 299,000 euros from the energy company GDF Suez (now Engie), without indicating the source of these revenues in her declaration. The funds were first transferred to the account of the lawyer company Xavier de Sarro (in the media it is called one of the close associates of Nicolas Sarkozy), and then to the expense of Rashida Dati.
Journalists put forward the same assumption - the money was paid for (illegal) lobbying for the interests of the company through the European Parliament.
There are many examples, and one of them is cited by Nouvel OBS : “September 15, 2011: in the gardens of the Rodin Dati museum, it presides a solemn evening in honor of Mehriban Aliyeva, the wife of the President of Azerbaijan. Among the guests is Gerard Mestralla ( head of GDF Suez. - Yu. S * . ) . * September 16, 2011, the next day in the Parisian office of the European Parliament, Dati organizes the "International Conference", which advertises the strategic role of the gas mined in Azerbaijan for the energy security of Europe. This happens at the moment when the GDF Suez is developing a gas field in the Caspian Sea, about 100 kilometers from Baku, along with the Azerbaijani state -owned company SOCAR and the French Total. ”
“The list of its amendments“ smells of gas ”and could continue endlessly,” the publication notes, emphasizing that the analysis of this activity of Dati led to the fact that the then deontologist EP Herald Hefner wrote a memorandum to the chairman of the European Parliament Martin Schultsu. “A few months later, Schulz will officially ask for an investigation by the new chairman of the ethics commission, a British euro deputy named Sajad Karim. But this karim, who later took up lobbying and became known as one of the defenders of the interests of Azerbaijan, where he regularly drives, seems to have not taken any action, ”the magazine writes, reporting that Karim did not respond to requests to comment on the accusations. Dati did not respond.
Behind which there are several more strange financial stories, and here are two of them:
a contract for 100,000 euros per year (2010–2018) with a “mysterious financier from City named Nikolai Sarkis, concluded against the backdrop of her contacts with Azerbaijan and Qatar”, was disclosed by Le Nouvel OBS in March 2024;
The contract for the same annual amount with the Orange telecommunications operator (partially state), concluded in the same years and “brought it more than 800 thousand euros”, according to Libération , published in April 2024.
As for the lawyer Xavier de Sarro, he, according to journalists, not only helped Dati in the “GDF Suez” “worth” 250 thousand euros (including supporting her to meet with the head of the company Gerard Metralla), but also drew up an agreement on her fee with Renault. And he brought to a meeting with the head of the High Giant Carlos Gon.
In addition, he provided an office, assistants and even an accountant.
“Now, thanks to these data, mysterious inscriptions of the hands found in the notebooks seized from the assistant of Dati during a search in the city hall of the 7th district of Paris in 2019, as part of the investigation in the Renault case,” Nouvel OBS noted. “On one page - it is written by hand:
“GDF - 250” , and a little lower: “Renault - 300” .
The contract with Renault was concluded for three years, each “300 hours of work” for 300 thousand euros, total = 900,000.
The case of which is now transferred to court.
Первое заседание назначено на 29 сентября, тогда же должно стать известно о дате начала слушаний по существу. Источники AFP и Le Monde в судебной системе предполагают, что это будет уже после муниципальных выборов, когда определится новый мэр Парижа.
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