French justice minister Taubira accused of political interference

FrenchFrench Justice Minister Christiane Taubira has been accused of trying to squeeze out a top Paris prosecutor on political grounds as she boasts about her plan to increase the neutrality of France's legal system.

The right-wing opposition claims the affair is a major scandal.

In a letter published in the right-wing paper Le Figaro, Paris public prosecutor François Falletti claims that he was summoned to the justice ministry, where two of Taubira's closest associates urged him to take a post at the appeals court, formally a promotion but a job with less power and fewer perks than his present one.

The minister wanted to replace him with somebody of her "political persuasion", they told him.

He declined and the story was published in Wednesday's edition of the satirical paper Le Canard Enchaîné.

Read more of this report from RFI.