France prosecutors on Monday sought two years with an electronic tag and a five-year ban on public office for ex-culture minister Rachida Dati in a trial on corruption charges linked to dealings with the Renault-Nissan group. Her lawyers have slammed the severity of the recommendations which will be announced in January next year.
Dati is charged with corruption and influence peddling over alleged lobbying for Renault-Nissan between October 2009 and February 2013 while she was a member of the European Parliament.
She became an MEP after serving as justice minister between 2007 and 2009 under former right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy.
She has been accused of accepting €900,000 (around $1.0 million) in lawyers' fees from a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Renault-Nissan.
The National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) said Dati's acts demonstrated "betrayal, contempt, a combative attitude, and concealment."
These are "criminal acts ranked among the most serious offenses against probity" – "a blatant assault on our democracy and on the trust citizens place in their elected representatives," prosecutor Caroline Genin told the court on Monday.
After a four-hour closing argument, prosecutors recommended four-years in prison – with two years to be served – accompanied by a five-year ban on holding elected office or working in the civil service, enforced immediately.
One of the most prominent figures on the French right, Dati, 60, resigned as culture minister in February to concentrate on the Paris mayoral race in March but suffered a bruising defeat to Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire.
If the court follows the recommendations from the PNF, Dati would stand to lose her mandate as mayor of Paris's 7th arrondissement and would be unable to rejoin the judiciary as she wishes or practice law, even if she appeals.
Civil 'death sentence'
Dati's legal team slammed the recommendations issued by the PNF as "a civil death sentence".
"They want to bar her from practicing law or serving as a magistrate; they want to punish her in the civil sphere," Lawyer Antoine Beauquier insisted.
"I am stunned because I believe she is innocent. And even if one believes she is guilty, she does not deserve such a drastic penalty," he argued.
In her closing remarks, Dati addressed the PNF magistrates, accusing them of "humilitating her" on a personal level.
"I have clearly understood that my return to your ranks posed a problem for you, Mr. Prosecutor," she said. "Financial gain? Greed? You are wide of the mark. We are not debating the issues here; we are dealing with disparagement and a lack of understanding."
Prosecutors also sought a four-year jail term for Carlos Ghosn, the fugitive former Renault-Nissan chief now living in Lebanon, who is being tried in absentia as part of the same trial in Paris.
If confirmed, he would face a fine of €375,000, as well as the maintenance of the arrest warrants issued against him and the deprivation of his civic rights.
The final verdict is expected to be announced on 21 January 2027.
(with AFP)
