Journaliste au pôle Enquêtes, j'ai rejoint Mediapart en janvier 2011, après avoir été pigiste à Libération (1986-1987), reporter spécialisé justice au Parisien (1988-1998), et grand reporter en charge de l'investigation au Journal du Dimanche (1999-2010).
J'ai publié plusieurs livres: "Un magistrat politique. Enquête sur Jean-Claude Marin, le procureur le plus puissant de France" (Pygmalion, 2015), "Qui veut la mort du juge d'instruction?" (Les Carnets de l'Info, 2007), et "Adjugé, volé. Chronique d'un trafic à Drouot" (Max Milo, 2011).
Declaration of interest
In the interest of transparency towards its readers, Mediapart’s journalists fill out and make public since 2018 a declaration of interests on the model of the one filled out by members of parliament and senior civil servants with the High Authority for Transparency and Public Life (HATVP), a body created in 2014 after Mediapart’s revelations on the Cahuzac affair.
The French state knew almost immediately what caused the death of 21-year-old student Rémi Fraisse at an eco-protest on October 26th, but sought to hide the facts for 48 hours. That is the clear implication of the initial findings of the independent judicial investigation into Fraisse's death at the Sivens dam protest in south-west France, details of which have been seen by Mediapart. These preliminary findings, backed by witness statements from gendarmes at the site, show that the forces of law and order were aware straight away that the botany student had died directly as a result of an 'offensive' grenade thrown by one of them. In an emotional statement the student's family has formally asked President François Hollande to explain why the government took two days to recognise what happened, and why a grenade packed with explosives was thrown at Rémi in the first place.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday announced, via Facebook, that he will run in elections this autumn to become head of the conservative opposition party, the UMP, ending months of speculation over his widely-tipped return to active politics. Sarkozy’s move to grab the reins of the UMP is regarded as the first stage in his ultimate aim to stand as the party’s presidential election candidate in 2017. Meanwhile, he faces significant obstacles with his implication in numerous investigations into suspected corruption, along with other cases that target his close allies. Michel Deléan reports on the judicial minefield awaiting Sarkozy, and which is arguably what has driven his return to the fray.
For the first time under France's Fifth Republic a former president has been held in custody for questioning. On Tuesday morning Nicolas Sarkozy was summoned to the offices of the fraud squad at Nanterre, west of Paris, where he was formally placed in police custody for questioning over claims that he benefited from what is known as 'influence peddling'. In particular the judges and police carrying out the investigation want to know if Sarkozy sought confidential information from a senior judge about the Bettencourt affair, in return for helping him get a top job in Monaco. The questioning of the former president, which comes a day after his lawyer, the judge at the centre of the 'influence peddling' claims and another judge were also held for questioning, is bound to place doubts over his expected return to French politics. If the investigating judges consider there is enough evidence, Sarkozy could be placed under formal investigation, one step short of formal charges.
Former president Nicolas Sarkozy's lawyer and close friend Thierry Herzog and senior judge Gilbert Azibert were questioned in police custody on Monday 30th June as part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged trading of confidential judicial information in return for political favours. In particular, Azibert is suspected of having passed on information about a part of the Bettencourt affair in the hope that he would be favoured in his application for a top judicial post in Monaco. A third man, an advocate general at France's top appeal court which was handling the Bettencourt affair, was also being questioned. As Mediapart's legal affairs correspondent Michel Deléan reports, the questioning in custody of such senior figures will send shock waves through the judicial establishment. On the evening of Tuesday July 1st, Herzog and Azibert appeared before the judges carrying out the probe and were placed under formal investigation.
Next month will mark the 100th anniversary of the assassination of France's revered socialist leader Jean Jaurès, an icon and figure of reference for the French Left. Among the various works published in tribute to Jaurès on the centenary of his death, a book published last month focuses upon the largely ignored and extraordinary outcome of the trial of his killer, acquitted by a jury despite assuming full responsibility for his act, which he carried out alone and in front of numerous witnesses. The story of the trial, held shortly after the end of World War One, is also that of the political and social atmosphere prevalent in France after the 1918 armistice, when Jaurès' pre-war, outspoken pacifist stand had become regarded by some with hateful contempt. Michel Deléan reports.
A judicial investigation has been opened into evidence obtained via police phone taps that Nicolas Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog received highly confidential information from a senior French magistrate about two legal cases involving the former French president. In exchange for the illicitly-gained information, Sarkozy was allegedly asked to use his influence to obtain the appointment of the the magistrate, Gilbert Azibert, to a lucrative retirement post on Monaco’s state council. Michel Deléan reports on the latest developments in an affair that has rocked France’s political and judicial establishment and which may announce the end of Sarkozy’s planned return to politics.
After two years of investigations, French magistrates last week dismissed the case brought by the daughter of Astérix co-creator Albert Uderzo that her father is the mentally-diminished victim of an entourage of crooks – an accusation Uderzo strongly denies. But the family feud is far from over. While Albert Uderzo earlier this month filed a complaint against his daughter Sylvie and her husband for “psychological violence”, she has now lodged a legal appeal against the magistrates’ decision to close the case. Michel Deléan reports on the latest developments in a case that could lend itself to a colourful cartoon plot, and reveals why the magistrates decided to wind up the investigation despite disturbing evidence to back Sylvie Uderzo's claims.
Nicolas Sarkozy and his political allies have been celebrating the decision by judges to drop proceedings against him in relation to the Bettencourt affair. But in their official judgement the two examining magistrates make clear they nonetheless regard the former president's behaviour towards the elderly and frail L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt to be 'abusive'. Mediapart here publishes extracts from a ruling whose tough language throws into context Sarkozy's claim that he has been declared 'innocent'. Michel Deléan reports.
After a long and politically explosive legal saga, the proceedings against Nicolas Sarkozy in relation to the Bettencourt affair have been dropped. The former president, who had denied any wrongdoing, had faced allegations that he took advantage of the mental frailty of L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt to get cash for his 2007 election campaign. But on Monday the investigating magistrates in charge of this high-profile case decided not to send the former president to court to face charges. Allies believe this clears the path to his return to French politics. However ten others, including former employment minister and ex-UMP treasurer Éric Woerth, are to stand trial over the Bettencourt affair. Michel Deléan reports.
In a much-awaited decision, the Bordeaux court of appeal has ruled that former French president Nicolas Sarkozy should remain under investigation for exploiting L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt’s dementia to obtain funds for his 2007 election campaign. The court threw out Sarkozy’s appeal along with several others lodged by fellow suspects cited in the case, and which included a demand that the investigating magistrates should be removed from the case for reason of their alleged impartiality. The ruling announced on Tuesday means Sarkozy could now face trial on the charge of ‘abuse of weakness’, about which a decision is expected within weeks. Michel Deléan reports.
On October 27th, 2005, two police officers chased three teenagers into an electricity sub-station in a Parisian suburb where two of them died after being electrocuted. Their deaths provoked major riots around Paris and across France. Nearly eight years later a French court has ruled that the two officers should stand trial, on charges of failing to provide assistance to persons in danger. Mediapart's legal affairs correspondent Michel Deléan reports on the complex background to this high-profile case.
The publication by Mediapart of carefully selected contents of secretly taped conversations between L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt and her close circle of financial and legal advisors led to a major political scandal and a judicial investigation in which former president Nicolas Sarkozy was placed under investigation for taking advantage of the billionaire’s frail mental health. Mediapart published only what it considered to be in the public interest, exposing evidence of political corruption, money laundering and interference by the executive powers in the proper workings of the judicial system. But now magistrates have sent for trial journalists from Mediapart and French weekly magazine Le Point on charges of breaching personal privacy laws by revealing the recordings, which were made by Bettencourt's butler. Michel Deléan reports.
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Je ne veux pas d’antisémites, de négationnistes, de racistes, de xénophobes, d’islamophobes, d’homophobes ni de franchouillards souverainistes aux plus hautes fonctions de l’Etat. J'irai voter le 7 mai.
Évoquer des « prises d'otages » ou du « terrorisme » pour disqualifier les mouvements sociaux actuels n'est pas meilleur pour la démocratie que ce qu'on prétend combattre.
En presque cinquante ans de carrière, David Bowie a expérimenté une multitude de créations, sans commettre aucune faute de goût. Promenade subjective en musique et en images.
