Dati corruption trial: former minister defends her role as lawyer before Paris court
Rachida Dati appeared before the Paris criminal court on Thursday for corruption and influence peddling in favour of Renault-Nissan. She claims to have acted as a lawyer.
Dati before the court: 'I signed a contract as a lawyer and I worked as a lawyer'
Rachida Dati was questioned for the first time on the substance of the case on Thursday 17 September before the 32nd criminal division of the Paris judicial tribunal. According to RFI, the former minister is standing trial for corruption and influence peddling in favour of the automobile group Renault-Nissan, offences allegedly committed whilst she was seated in the European Parliament.
The day opened with lengthy procedural debates concerning the admissibility of civil parties. Olivier Baratelli, one of Rachida Dati's lawyers, spent almost two hours contesting the joinder of three anti-corruption associations as civil parties alongside Renault's counsel. "Some people here should only occupy a folding chair, or even be excluded," declared the bar president, arguing that these entities were disrupting the order of proceedings by their mere presence.
The representatives of these associations responded by accusing the defence of seeking to delay examination of the substance of the file, whilst reminding the court of the 58 motions filed by Rachida Dati before the trial opened. One of them compared Baratelli's speech to the monologue of an American senator practising filibuster—this technique of obstruction through monopolisation of speaking time.
Caroline Genin, representative of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office, expressed her impatience with these exchanges. "For two days the defence has been trying to portray Ms Dati as the victim. It is time to open the substance of this file and to hear Rachida Dati," she declared. During these altercations, the defendant remained motionless on her seat, a bundle of documents on her lap, turning her back deliberately towards the courtroom and the civil parties' bench.
The contract at the heart of the accusation
It was at 18:00 that the presiding judge finally called Rachida Dati to the stand. Dressed in a tweed jacket over black trousers, the former Justice Minister retraced her career—a scientific baccalaureate in 1983, a degree in economics, a postgraduate degree in public law, then posts as a healthcare assistant and an accountant carried out in parallel with her studies. Visibly stressed, she spoke at a sustained pace, to the point that the court clerk asked her to slow down.
The presiding judge then turned to the heart of the file: a fee contract signed on 28 October 2009 between Rachida Dati—then newly elected to the European Parliament—and RNBV, the Dutch subsidiary of Renault-Nissan headed at the time by Carlos Ghosn. This contract provided for legal advisory activities in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa, for a remuneration of 300,000 euros per year excluding tax, amounting to 900,000 euros received between 2010 and 2012.
Rachida Dati detailed country by country the nature of her work: in Morocco, it was a matter of ensuring the proper execution of a 2007 contract concerning the construction of a factory in Tangier; in Algeria, defining a strategy; in Turkey, protecting investments in a context of bilateral tensions in 2010 and 2011.
The accusation: a hidden corruption pact
For the prosecution, this contract actually concealed lobbying work within the European Parliament, forbidden by the mandate of a Member of the European Parliament. The prosecution cites three parliamentary questions related to the automobile sector as well as statements favourable to Renault-Nissan, summarised in a note transmitted to Carlos Ghosn in February 2013, at the end of the contract. Rachida Dati describes this document as simple legal monitoring.
"I signed a contract as a lawyer and I worked as a lawyer," she stated before the court, rejecting any assimilation to lobbying activity.
Divergent versions on the contract's origin
The court also sought to establish how the links between Rachida Dati and Carlos Ghosn were formed. The businessman claims that it was she who took the initiative of contact. The former minister takes a more nuanced view: "We had a telephone exchange. I informed him of my future activity as a lawyer. He told me he was interested, particularly for an urgent matter in Morocco," she explained. She specified that she had never found herself alone with Carlos Ghosn, with other people being present at their meetings.
To the presiding judge's question—"Why does this status as a lawyer matter?"—Rachida Dati replied: "Because there is a bar association, and one is bound by confidentiality and professional secrecy."
The hearing was adjourned after three hours of questioning. Proceedings will resume on Monday 21 September, the first day of the trial having been largely taken up with the adjournment request filed by Carlos Ghosn—ultimately rejected by the court.
Source: RFI