France’s former armed forces minister Florence Parly was unknowingly targeted while in office by the secret Pegasus spyware, sold to governments by Israeli surveillance technology firm NSO Group, bringing the total number of French ministers whose phones were infected with the eavesdropping tool – along with that of President Emmanuel Macron – to seven, Mediapart has learnt. A judicial investigation has established that at least 23 people in France, including journalists as well as politicians, fell victim to the spyware between 2019 and 2020. Fabrice Arfi and Ellen Salvi report.
French prosecutors earlier this month recommended that former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, along with three of his former ministers and nine other individuals, stand trial for the alleged illegal funding of his 2007 election campaign by the regime of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Mediapart obtained access to the 425-page document in which the prosecutors detail the evidence and their conclusions. The Libyan financing arrangements could not have been carried out, they write, “without the consent and the perfect knowledge” of Sarkozy, for whom “the hoped-for advantage consisted of obtaining secret financial support for the 2007 electoral campaign”. Fabrice Arfi and Karl Laske report.
Last autumn France's Ministry of Education issued an update on the rules and advice to education authorities regarding the wearing of “conspicuous” religious symbols, which are banned in French schools. Mediapart has investigated how this latest advice is being applied in one secondary school in Marseille. Several pupils there who have worn outfits judged to be contrary to the rules say they have been “persecuted” by the school management. They also complain of scandalous comments made by the school's headteacher. Teachers meanwhile talk of a “tense” atmosphere and a divided staffroom. Yasmine Sellami reports.
Months after the 2020 murder of history and geographer teacher Samuel Paty by a radicalised youth, junior minister Marlène Schiappa set up the Fonds Marianne to counter extremism and 'defend Republican values'. This government-funded body has since paid out just over two million euros to 17 different associations. But investigations by the media, including Mediapart, have raised question marks over two of the associations who received large sums from the fund and over the way this money was used. One in particular, Reconstruire le Commun, went on to publish videos attacking opponents of President Emmanuel Macron during the 2022 elections. And Mediapart can reveal that there are fresh questions today over the profile of some of those who took part in that charity's videos. Meanwhile, opposition politicians are calling for a Parliamentary inquiry into the affair, which has also been referred to the prosecution authorities. Antton Rouget and Ellen Salvi report.
How did a major French multinational company, through sheer greed, end up financing Islamic terrorism so that it could keep its expensive cement factory open in Syria? What did the French secret services know about this arrangement? With the help of previously-unseen documents, Mediapart has been able to piece together the background to the scandal involving Lafarge and the story of its massive cement plant close to the Syrian-Turkish border. Fabrice Arfi and Matthieu Suc report.
During an investigation lasting several months Mediapart has gathered numerous testimonies that accuse actor Gérard Depardieu of inappropriate words or gestures. The accusations come from actresses, make-up artists and production staff. Often taking place in public, the events are said to have occurred during the shooting of eleven films that came out between 2004 and 2022. The director Fabien Onteniente says that on one occasion he confronted the famous French actor over his behaviour. Depardieu himself denies any criminal behaviour. Meanwhile, one actress has just given her account to the French justice system. Marine Turchi reports.
Former French police officer Sihem Souid, who now lobbies on behalf of Qatar, has made a formal legal complaint to the prosecution authorities in Paris after revelations by Mediapart and 'The New Yorker' magazine over alleged intelligence-gathering operations and attempts to gain influence in France carried out on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. As Mediapart has revealed, these operations were carried out for Qatar's regional rivals the UAE by a private Swiss agency called Alp Services. The legal complaint made by the lobbyist centres on photographs which suggest that her family home may have been the target of surveillance. Yann Philippin reports.
The Paris public prosecution services are investigating two formal complaints, the latest filed on March 23rd, alleging that Nasser al-Khelaifi, president of the Paris Saint-Germain football club and also chairman of Qatari broadcaster BeIN Sports, illegally employed in France his former major-domo and an advisor by paying them through fake contracts as coaches with his Smash Tennis Academy in Doha. Khelaifi, one of the most powerful figures in world football, denies the accusations. Yann Philippin reports.
Mediapart can reveal details of a report compiled by six French ministries about the tragic situation faced by France's Indian Ocean archipelago. Covering issues such as health, housing, law and order, education and the legal system, the report's contents are devastating for the French state. Drawn up in January 2022, the document shows that the security-focused approach of interior minister Gérald Darmanin cannot, on its own, solve Mayotte's many problems. Fabrice Arfi and Nejma Brahim report.
With the help of leaked documents and witness accounts, Mediapart reveals the inside story on the United Arab Emirates' strategy to influence opinion in France, an operation involving private intelligence gathering and the manipulation of information . The story features an Emirati intelligence agent, a private intelligence agency in Switzerland, academics and two well-known French journalists. Another name that also crops up is that of President Emmanuel Macron's former bodyguard Alexandre Benalla. Yann Philippin and Antton Rouget investigate.
