French justice minister found not guilty in conflict of interest trial

A pugnacious orator, Dupond-Moretti was alleged to have failed to have stepped back sufficiently from a case against a magistrate with whom he had sparred whilst a lawyer. The Cour de Justice de la Republique, a special tribunal for government officials, said, Dupond-Moretti was in a position of conflict of interest but criminal intent was not established, and it cleared him of the charges.

A special tribunal on Wednesday ruled that French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti did not abuse his position to settle scores with opponents he had made during his career as a top lawyer. A pugnacious orator, Dupond-Moretti was alleged to have failed to have stepped back sufficiently from a case against a magistrate with whom he had sparred whilst a lawyer.

The Cour de Justice de la Republique, a special tribunal for government officials, said, Dupond-Moretti was in a position of conflict of interest but criminal intent was not established, and it cleared him of the charges. Dupond-Moretti had remained in office during the investigation and trial but a guilty verdict would have put pressure on President Emmanuel Macron, who swept to power in 2017 promising to clean up politics, to fire his minister.

Dupond-Moretti denied wrongdoing. "For me and those close to me, this trial is a disgrace," Dupond-Moretti had told the tribunal, which was presided over by three judges and a dozen lawmakers, French media reported.

Other allegations centered on a lawsuit he filed against the office of the financial prosecutor (PNF) shortly before taking up his ministerial post, accusing the PNF of invading his privacy by obtaining his phone records during a probe into alleged corruption by former president Nicolas Sarkozy. The hard left France Insoumise (France Unbowed) criticised the acquittal, saying it showed the special tribunal should be scrapped.

Since its creation in 1993, the Cour de Justice de la Republique has held only nine formal trials, including Dupond-Moretti's. Past defendants have included former finance minister and current head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde. In 2016, she was found guilty of negligence over a government payout. She escaped punishment and kept her job at the IMF.