At the Paris Criminal Court,
We knew her to be biting, eruptive, sometimes capable of memorable bloodshed. But this Thursday, in front of the 32nd chamber of the Paris Criminal Court, Rachida Dati showed a completely different face. Her explanations on the suspicions of corruption and influence peddling against her are delivered in a half-whisper that is difficult to hear as she speaks so quickly. On numerous occasions, the president, Claire Saas, is forced to repeat it: “speak louder”, “speak well into the microphone”, “tell me that again more slowly”… However, Rachida Dati keeps her calm, imperturbable, and resumes her explanation where she left off, with the same flow.
The one who was Minister of Justice and more recently of Culture, is suspected of having received 900,000 euros between 2009 and 2013 to illegally lobby for Renault within the European Parliament, where she was a member. While she readily admits to having signed a fee agreement with a Renault subsidiary – RNBV – for such an amount, she continually repeated throughout these four hours of interrogation that her role consisted solely of providing legal advice to “determine the group’s strategy on its international expansion”, particularly in the Maghreb and the Middle East.
“There was never any direct contact”
Rachida Dati seeks above all to demonstrate that the fee agreement at the heart of the case was nothing like a contract signed on the sidelines with Carlos Ghosn. Moreover, she specifies, “the contract had been reread by Renault’s legal department”. The former CEO of Renault is suspected of being the other half of the “corruptive pact” but exiled in Lebanon, he refused to appear.
Rachida Dati swears never to have “met him face to face” or to have had “direct contact” with him. “He was very demanding, I had never seen him alone, he was not someone with empathy,” she insists. According to him, he only had one word on his mouth: “the results”. She gives as proof this time when she had to leave her hospitalized daughter alone for a few hours to report to Carlos Ghosn.
“I can’t keep everything”
But how then can we explain that there are so few elements objectifying his work? However, the fee agreement provided for an annual review. “My client did not want a written report, I complied with his requirements,” she assures. She claims to have made a report in 2010 but from 2011, the automobile group was shaken by the “spies affair” – a scandal of false accusations of industrial espionage hiding a scam – and Carlos Ghosn “only asked for oral reports”.
What about notes, documents attesting to meetings, research, etc., asks the president. “I can’t keep everything and it’s not a criminal offense,” retorts Rachida Dati. However, the rare traces found are linked to the European Parliament. The prosecution notably retained three written questions against him related to the automobile sector. “On the European Parliament, I don’t go there that much,” she says.
If the hearing stopped before the lawyers and the public prosecutor could ask their questions – they will do so on Monday – the debates which took place earlier on the admissibility of the civil parties gave a foretaste of the content of their arguments. “The universe in which Carlos Ghosn and Rachida Dati operate is a sterile universe, there are no documents,” stormed Kami Haeri, one of Renault’s counsel, accusing his lawyers of trying to “derail the hearing”. The public prosecutor was no more tender. “The defense has been trying to pass itself off as a victim for two days,” slammed the prosecutor. Will Rachida Dati manage to display the same calm on Monday?
