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French ‘paparazzi queen’ charged in Sarkozy probe

A major figure in France's paparazzi world has been charged with witness tampering in a case involving former president Nicolas Sarkozy, her lawyer told AFP Saturday.

Published: 5 June 2021 14:03 CEST
French 'paparazzi queen' charged in Sarkozy probe
Mimi Marchand, known widely as "Mimi", works closely with a host of rich and powerful figures from the worlds of politics and entertainment, including President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte. Photo: Eric FEFERBERG / AFP

Mimi Marchand, who runs the BestImage agency, had also been charged with criminal association, said lawyer Caroline Toby. “She firmly denies the charges against her,” she added.

Marchand was arrested on Thursday along with several other suspects on the orders of magistrates investigating alleged corruption by Sarkozy, who has been accused of taking money from former Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Sarkozy denies the charges.

READ ALSO: Ex French president Sarkozy, 66, denies claims he ‘skipped the queue’ to get his Covid vaccine

Francois de Labarre, a journalist from Paris Match who was also arrested Thursday, was released without charge later the same day.

Marchand and de Labarre were instrumental in organising an interview in November with one of the main witnesses against Sarkozy, Ziad Takieddine, in which he withdrew his allegations against the former head of state.

Afterwards, speaking to French investigators, Takieddine changed his story again, retracting what he had told Paris Match and saying his words had been “deformed”.

Marchand’s lawyer Toby insisted Saturday that her client had “acted in her capacity as a journalist who had this exclusive interview with Takieddine.

“All she did was organise the photos and the interview, within the parameters of her job,” she added.

Marchand, known widely as “Mimi”, works closely with a host of rich and powerful figures from the worlds of politics and entertainment, including President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte.

READ ALSO: Campaign finance trial opens for French ex-president Sarkozy

The investigative website Mediapart, which first reported the detention of Marchand and de Laberre, said they were suspected of “underground negotiations with Mr Takieddine” to convince him to withdraw his allegations against Sarkozy.

Before retracting his claims in the Paris Match interview, Takieddine had always alleged that he delivered suitcases stuffed with five million euros ($6 million) in cash from Tripoli to Sarkozy’s chief of staff in 2006 and 2007.

Marchand’s arrest is the latest twist in years of extraordinary claims and investigations against pugnacious right-winger Sarkozy, who served one term as president, from 2007-2012.

In March, Sarkozy was found guilty of influence-peddling and handed a three-year prison sentence for attempting to influence a judge to obtain information in a separate case.

Most of the sentence was suspended and he is appealing, meaning he is unlikely to go to jail, but he faces other charges including in the cash-from-Libya case.

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POLITICS

Fuel prices to immigration: The key points of Macron’s pledges

French President Emmanuel Macron laid out his some of his priorities for the months to come in an interview on French television on Sunday night.

Published: 25 September 2023 10:39 CEST
Fuel prices to immigration: The key points of Macron's pledges

During an interview with French television channel, TF1, on Sunday night, French President Emmanuel Macron weighed in on several ongoing topics in French society, from immigration to fuel prices via cost of living and plans for the ecological transition.

Here are four key takeaways:

Petrol prices and household subsidies 

In order to counter the rise in fuel prices, Macron told TF1 that he has “no miracle solution”, but that the prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, would meet with fuel distributors this week to “call for fuel to be sold at cost price”. 

The president also said he would request that the government include a new scheme to help low-income households who rely on their vehicles to get to work in the upcoming 2024 budget. The Macron government previously offered a similar subsidy for low-earning households, but this one would be paid ‘per vehicle per year’, rather than simply by the household. 

Le Figaro reported that it would likely be restricted to the first five income brackets, meaning individuals with a “reference income of less than €14,700”. This would involve individuals who earn less than €1,314 net per month, couples with one child who take in less than €3,285 net per month, families with three children earning less than €5,255 net per month.

Macron did not offer an exact timeline for when it would come into existence, but as it would be part of the new 2024 budget, the aid would likely not be available until 2024.

 As for other government plans to help motorists with rising fuel costs, the prime minister previously said the government would pass legislation to allow fuel distributors to sell at a loss, which is normally outlawed in France due to protection for small and independent businesses.

However, large distributors such as Carrefour, Leclerc, Intermarché Système U, Casino and Auchan, all refused the government’s plan and said they would not sell fuel at a loss. This includesTotalEnergies, who controls around a third of French fuel stations and had already agreed to cap petrol per litre to €1.99.

In explaining why fuel prices have been rising, Macron said: “We are paying for our dependence. Since the beginning of 2023, the price per barrel of oil has risen around a third and that’s going to continue (…)The increase for this is not tax-related. It has to do with geopolitics.”

Inflation

Macron said his focus is job creation. The French president has previously touted goals of ‘full employment’, which would include some reforms to the existing structures for unemployment benefits and eligibility.

As for wages, Macron said that during an upcoming conference on employment and benefits – set to take place in early October – the government would “work with sectors that still pay below the legal minimum wage.”

As for wage indexation for all fields, the president said he is not in favour as it would “create an inflationary loop.”

Environment and ecological transition

The president also discussed his plans for ‘ecological transition in France’. Macron is set to reveal a thorough ‘ecological plan’ on Monday night at the Elysée Palace. 

On Sunday, he said that the country is “halfway there”. He said that he wants to institute ‘écologie à la française’ (environmentalism in French-style), which he defined as “neither denying the situation nor curing it, but progressing.”

He promised that the government would invest €40 billion in the ecological transition, and stated that one of his major priorities will be to end coal-use and production in France. 

The president said that by 2027, the country’s two remaining coal-fired plants would be converted for ‘biomass’. 

Macron also specified that the government would not ban gas-fired boilers and furnaces, as it had previously indicated, to avoid leaving rural households “without solutions”. Instead, he said the country would seek to encourage the installation of heat pumps. 

The president also mentioned the possibility of offering a specific subsidy for those looking to purchase electric vehicles. He said this could come into force “between now and the end of the year.” 

As for producing electric vehicles and batteries, Macron said that the government planned to create ‘tens of thousands of new industrial jobs’.

READ MORE: Battery makers turn northern French region into ‘electric valley’

Immigration

On the heels of a visit form Pope Francis to Marseille over the weekend – who called for greater solidarity with migrants – Macron addressed the subject of immigration. 

Quoting the former French prime minister, Michel Rocard, Macron said that France “cannot take in all of the world’s misery.”

As for undocumented workers in short-staffed jobs – like the restaurant industry for example – Macron said that there must be ‘intelligent compromise’. He also said: “we must first try to ensure that it is our compatriots (eg. French nationals) who take these jobs (…) there will be no unconditional right to regularisation”. 

France’s parliament will vote on immigration legislation later this autumn.

READ MORE: LATEST: What’s happening with France’s new immigration law?

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