It was supposed to be the long-awaited Holy Grail for Nicolas Sarkozy. It was meant to be proof of legal plots fabricated against him for years by a French judicial system and police officers operating in bad faith and outside the law. This moment came when businessman Ziad Takieddine, one of the key witnesses in the investigation into Libyan funding of Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign, “confessed” in the autumn of 2020 that he had wrongly accused Nicolas Sarkozy of being corrupted by the Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
This retraction, which was carried by the weekly Paris Match magazine owned by the Lagadère group and by BFMTV, whose managing director is presenter and producer Marc-Olivier Fogiel, was supposed to trigger a huge legal scandal and turn the tables in a case that had proven explosive for Sarkozy and his allies.
Enlargement : Illustration 1
In the days that followed Nicolas Sarkozy took advantage of the situation to tell BFMTV what he thought of the French justice system, which he claimed was guilty of huge wrongs in a case in which he has been placed under formal investigation for “corruption”, “illicit funding of an election campaign”, “receiving misappropriated public funds”, and “criminal conspiracy”. The former president told journalist Ruth Elkrief: “I am stunned. Does the rule of law exist in France, is it a democracy?”
In December 2020 Ziad Takieddine went so far as to sign a ten-page document before a public notary in Beirut - where he took refuge after being convicted in the Karachi affair – to confirm that he had lied about Nicolas Sarkozy in the Libyan case, and had done so at the express demand of the investigating judge Serge Tournaire.
This written retraction in question and answer format, which was immediately sent to the judges investigating the Libyan affair, was then the subject of a long article in Paris Match. It was co-written by the magazine's managing editor Herve Gattegno and reporter François de Labarre under the headline: 'Exclusive: Takieddine accuses his judges'.
The script was unfolding perfectly.
But seven months after these ringing declarations by Ziad Takieddine, the justice system now has a alternative views of these events, events which have been characterised by two Paris-based investigating judges, Vincent Lemonier and Noémie Nathan, as “witness tampering” and “criminal conspiracy”.
Detectives from French police's anti-corruption unit OCLCIFF and the judges have discovered, with supporting evidence, that Takieddine's retraction had all the hallmarks of a self-serving operation, verging on media manipulation, with the aim of influencing the course of the investigation and misleading the justice system. At the end of the chain the beneficiary was Nicolas Sarkozy.
Two key figures, whose roles were not divulged by Paris Match or BFMTV, appear at the heart of the Takieddine operation. One is the businesswoman Michèle 'Mimi' Marchand who is currently being held in detention in prison at Fresnes in the southern suburbs of Paris in connection with the case. The other is the businessman Noël Dubus who already has a conviction for fraud. Both have been placed under formal investigation for “witness tampering” and “criminal conspiracy” and both benefit from the presumption of innocence.
Marchand, who is widely portrayed as the 'queen of the paparazzi' in France and who runs the photographic agency Bestimage, is said to be close to Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and also Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron. She is a powerful woman who has moved within the circles of power for years. She is seen as a king-maker and purveyor of media scoops.
Though she told Mediapart in April this year that she had “nothing to do” with the story by Paris Match and BFMTV, according to the judicial investigation 'Mimi' Marchand virtually managed the Takieddine operation from start to finish, working hand in hand with Noël Dubus. In particular, the two were near Takieddine in Beirut when, sitting in from the of the marina at the Lebanese capital, the middleman cleared Nicolas Sarkozy in the Libyan funding case. This was done in 30 short seconds of television footage which led a special programme on BFMTV, but during which the news channel never explained the circumstances surrounding the interview.
Nor did Paris Match, which took the decision to hide the background to its now questionable scoop. The journalist François de Labarre, who wrote the interview with Takiedddine, made an application to a judge after he was arrested in connection with the case. That judge recently ruled that his telephone conversations with editors at the magazine could be retained as part of the ongoing investigation.
In one of those conversations, on November 12th 2021, a senior figure at Paris Match, who has since been promoted to deputy managing editor, explained to François de Labarre that he should not mention the part played by Bestimage agency because of its known closeness to Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy is also, incidentally, a member of the supervisory board at the Lagardère group, which owns Paris Match. The judge ruled that “this information seems essential for finding out the truth and demonstrating the prior understanding and its hidden nature”.
There was a phrase that Ziad Takieddine had to say: 'Nicolas Sarkozy never received money for the presidential campaign.'
Similarly, an illuminating exchange between the interview's writer and the managing editor of Paris Match, Hervé Gattegno, has also been kept as part of the investigation. “It feels like witness tampering,” the journalist wrote in the message to his boss. According to the judges in this investigation “this shows once again the doubts he might have had over the way these retractions [editor's note, by Takieddine] were obtained”. Hervé Gattegno is one of the individuals whom those who have been placed under investigation in the case are formally banned from contacting.
At the time of publication the managing editor of Paris Match had not responded to Mediapart's questions about the phone messages that has been added to the investigation. However, Paris Match later sent a right of reply (read in the More tab here).
'Mimi' Marchand's lawyer Caroline Toby told Mediapart that she had no comment to make at this stage.
Detectives also found evidence of transfers of several tens of thousands of euros in cash to Takieddine, along with promises of funds totalling millions, at the time when the middleman was suddenly changing his version of events in the Libyan election funding case. Part of this money was moved under the supervision of Noël Dubus and one of his staff, Lisa H. According to the investigation they acted as guides or aides for 'Mimi' Marchand in the operation.
Questioned in custody, Noël Dubus eventually gave his version of events when confronted with the information gathered by detectives. The investigation will now have to check his version against other witnesses and documents.
According to what Noël Dubus told the police, 'Mimi' Marchand asked him to “organise” the interview with Takieddine “in September 2020”. The month in question was a significant one; it was in September 2020 that the court of appeal in Paris had fully validated – using harsh language in relation to Sarkozy and his supporters – the lengthy and ongoing judicial probe into claims that the Libyan regime helped fund Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign.
Enlargement : Illustration 2
“Mimi Marchand got me to meet Nicolas Sarkozy at his home,” said Noël Dubus, who said he had three or four meetings with the former president through Marchand's intervention. “I know that they saw each other once, that's for sure, in the presence of Mimi Marchand,” said Lisa H., who works for Noël Dubus. 'Mimi' Marchand herself categorical denied this to detectives. “That's untrue. It's Dubus who must have said that to be a smart-ass,” she said.
Nicolas Sarkozy did not respond to Mediapart's questions about any possible dealings with Noël Dubus.
Detectives also found on Dubus's phone a photograph which shows that he was near Nicolas Sarkozy's home. He also messaged someone: “I am going to Zébulon's house [editor's note, the nickname that Dubus had used for Sarkozy]. Mimi is joining me.”
The investigators also found two mysterious handwritten dedications in copies of Nicolas Sarkozy's latest book, Le Temps des Tempêtes. As Libération has reported, in a copy of the book given to Noël Dubus the former head of state is said to have written: “Thanks for everything. Your friend.” The second dedication is apparently addressed to Lisa H.'s mother: “For Nadia who can be proud of her daughter Lisa. December 17th 2020.”
The handwriting and signatures resemble those of Nicolas Sarkozy but investigators may carry out technical checks to doublecheck the authenticity of the signatures. When approached by Mediapart for a comment as to whether he had dedicated books to Noël Dubus and Lisa H.'s mother, Nicolas Sarkozy did not respond. What is known is that when questioned in custody Lisa H. said that she had asked Noël Dubus for a dedication from the former president for her mother.
The investigation is also looking at another key element of the case: the written retraction that Ziad Takieddine signed in front of a pubic notary in December 2020 and which Paris Match made a great deal of in a subsequent article. According to Noël Dubus's version of events, it was 'Mimi' Marchand who wanted a “formal document that could be incorporated into the investigation because the Paris Match article [editor's note, the one after the Takieddine interview in November 2020] had not been picked up by the judges”.
According to Mr Sarkozy, they couldn't care less about Claude Guéant
“Mimi was under pressure from Nicolas Sarkozy,” Noël Dubus told detectives. He also said that “Sarkozy was hassling [Paris Match managing editor] Gattegno” over the issue.
Takieddine's written retraction, called an “interpellation” in legal jargon, is made all the more curious by the fact that it does not in any way resemble the middleman's normal comments, neither in style or content. On the other hand it does tally perfectly with all the strategic points of Nicolas Sarkozy's defence in the Libyan case. The crucial question now is whether Ziad Takieddine, who did indeed sign it, is the document's real author.
According to Noël Dubus, the idea for a formal written retraction by Takieddine, which in a way validates the interview that he had given, was suggested by 'Mimi' Marchand to Nicolas Sarkozy's lawyer Thierry Herzog. Detectives also found the list of questions from this written retraction on Michèle Marchand's phone.
Noël Dubus also explained that he had collected the responses from Takieddine before passing them on for approval from higher up. “We made modifications and each time I went to see Mimi and I asked her if that was suitable,” he told detectives. “She was making corrections because in the meantime she was submitting these responses to Herzog and Gattegno.” As for the completed retraction “we had to give a copy of it to Thierry Herzog”, said Lisa H. during questioning.
While he said he considered Noël Dubus to be a “compulsive liar”, one of the other people placed under investigation for “witness tampering”, estate agent Pierre Reynaud, who is suspected of having financed part of the Takieddine operation, told detectives: “If Thierry Herzog made this document [for] Mimi Marchand then he'd be better off going to be a waiter at La Petite Maison [editor's note, a well-known restaurant] in Nice where his wife lives.” On the issue of the former president Pierre Reynaud declared: “It would be very sad if Nicolas Sarkozy has fallen to this level.”
The written retraction, which according to the judges was aimed at “influencing” the course of justice, is all the more surprising because while it completely exonerates Nicolas Sarkozy in the Libyan affair, it continues to accuse his former chief of staff and former minister Claude Guéant, who is also under investigation in the case. The document refers to a payment of five million euros in cash to the former president's top aide.
The reason? “According to Mr Sarkozy, they couldn't care less about Claude Guéant,” Noël Dubus told detectives. The fact is that when questioned by judges in the Libyan case Nicolas Sarkozy abandoned his loyal former aide, as Mediapart has reported.
Noël Dubus eventually summed up the operation in one sentence: “There was a phrase that Ziad Takieddine had to say: 'Nicolas Sarkozy never received money for the presidential campaign.'”
Another curious facet of the case concerns the photographs of Ziad Takieddine signing his retraction at the offices of a Lebanese public notary. These were published in Paris Match but were not credited, which is very rare for a magazine known for the impact of its photos.
This might be explained by what Noël Dubus told detectives: “The photos that I sent to Mimi, those where Mr Takieddine was in the process of signing and which were normally confidential, were published with the article and that caused me some problems with Lebanon.”
After the Takieddine operation, 'Mimi' Marchand was continuing to operate on Nicolas Sarkozy's behalf in the Libyan affair just a few days before she was arrested, as shown by a phone-tap on May 22nd this year of a call with BFMTV's managing director Marc-Olivier Fogiel.
The businessman woman, who in another phone-tapped call referred to a contract that Nicolas Sarkozy is said to have promised her with the hotel group Accor, told the BFMTV boss that she was able to prove that an embarrassing Libyan document revealed by Mediapart in 2012 was a forgery. On three occasions the French justice system has rubbished this theory, one that has become an obsession among Sarkozy's supporters.
Questioned by detectives about her mission in this affair, 'Mimi' Marchand replied: “The mission to 'kill' Mediapart.”
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- The original French version of this article can be found here.
English version by Michael Streeter