It was a pained prosecutor who gave his indictment, Thursday, November 28, at the trial of the former boss of internal intelligence Bernard Squarcini and nine other defendants at the Paris judicial court. “The public prosecutor is sad to have senior state officials present before you today and to have spent his last days having discussions that the investigating judges described as “discussions of drug dealers” on the facts”, regrets Hervé Tetier, in reference to the semantic debates which animated the hearing on the meaning of “surveillance” and “infiltration”.
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Alongside Mr. Squarcini, there were mainly current police and intelligence officials who responded to his requests while he worked for LVMH, as well as former senior officials who became employees or service providers of the luxury group.
The former spymaster is the common thread in this sprawling procedure relating to facts dating from 2008 to 2016. As such, the prosecutor requested the heaviest sentences against him: four years of suspended imprisonment, 300,000 fine, confiscation of more than 460,000 euros seized during the investigation, ban on carrying out an activity linked to “intelligence, surveillance, advice and economic intelligence” for five years, with provisional execution, as well as a ban on exercising public service for the same period. “It clearly appears that [le contrat de 2,2 millions d’euros liant Bernard Squarcini à LVMH] was intended to remunerate something other than [ses] intelligence skills, the “other thing” being influence peddling”continued the prosecutor.
“I am struck by general amnesia”
These requisitions are all the more burdensome as it is “repeated” concerning the “collection of personal data by fraudulent means”, explains the prosecutor. Mr. Squarcini was convicted in 2014 for having requested the fadettes of a journalist from Monde to discover its sources.
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Hervé Séveno, Jean-Charles Brisard and Albert Farhat – accused in the part of the case relating to the surveillance and infiltration of the newspaper Fakirwhile its founder, François Ruffin, now a deputy (various left) for the Somme, was working on the documentary Thanks boss! – are also the subject of strong requisitions due to their lack of recognition of the facts. “I am struck by the general amnesia which seems to have affected a large number of defendants regarding what they sent or received. Fortunately, there are objective elements such as telephone interceptions, SMS, emails, reports and trombinoscopesexplains the prosecutor. We are in the presence of intelligence professionals who know full well [ce qu’ils faisaient]. »
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