The icon of the judiciary, François Molins, 71, undoubtedly believed that his word could convince the criminal court of Lyon. Called as a witness in the trial against Commissioner François Thierry, 56, the former Paris prosecutor convicted the former head of the Central Office to Combat Drug Trafficking, tried for the crime of public forgery by an agent with public authority.
accused him “instrumentalization”of “disloyalty”in short, for having voluntarily concealed the reasons for the custody of Sophiane Hambli, the commissioner’s privileged informant, in April 2012. The measure was a procedural disguise, intended to give a legal appearance to the extraction of the informant from his prison to place him in custody in a hotel room, with the sole objective of obtaining information about an imminent importation of cannabis from Spain.
“We operate on the basis of trust, we depend on what they tell us”raged, maintaining that the police officer had manipulated the service that François Molins directed from November 2011 to October 2018, before being appointed prosecutor general of the Court of Cassation.
The verdict completely contradicted his thesis. “While the placement and extension of police custody of Sophiane Hambli appears procedurally irregular, the court was satisfied that the commissioner had not acted with fraudulent intent.”commented President Eric Chalbost when making the decision on Friday, September 27. According to the majority of the five professional judges of the criminal court, the measure of deprivation of liberty “was taken and carried out with the agreement and under the control of the Paris prosecutor’s office”. François Thierry was therefore acquitted, after a week of trial full of fool’s games and power relations.
Operation “Myrmidon”
“I have no memory. “I would never have given instructions on fictitious police custody.”supports Véronique Degermann, then deputy prosecutor of Paris, head of the division responsible for organized crime and terrorism. The judge talks a lot about her busy schedule and the location of her office “on the prosecutor’s floor”.
François Thierry was his permanent contact to validate the “Myrmidon” operations, Unique anti-drug system based on monitored deliveries. Who controlled who? The case questions the place of the informants, as well as the relationship between police and justice, through their respective servers. “A friendly bond? »the president asks. “It was strictly professional… In fact, I never addressed him informally, it was a planned decision”answers Véronique Degerman, frequently turning towards the dock.
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