Examining magistrate Isabelle Prévost-Desprez has been found not guilty by a French court over claims that she leaked details of the high-profile Bettencourt affair to journalists.
Prévost-Desprez, who has always denied any wrongdoing, was placed under investigation in July 2012 for “violation of professional secrecy” for allegedly passing on to two journalists from Le Monde classified information from her early investigation into the affair.
In June 2013 the Bordeaux public prosecutor’s office in June recommended she should stand trial, but the case was not heard until after the completion of two other trials arising from the Bettencourt affair.
The three judges in her trial – who had also heard the other cases – ruled that there was insufficient evidence to convict the magistrate of the offence.
It was not immediately clear if the prosecution authorities will appeal against the acquittal.
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Read Mediapart's coverage of the other verdicts in the Bettencourt affair here and here.