PARIS (AP) — A special court cleared France’s justice minister of conflict of interest Wednesday, ruling he was not guilty of having used his office to settle personal scores.
Once a high-profile lawyer, Eric Dupond-Moretti was accused of abusing his position to order probes targeting magistrates who investigated him, his friends and his former clients.
The verdict marked a political victory for Dupond-Moretti, who had denied wrongdoing and refused to resign before or during his two-week trial.
He was tried in a court for alleged wrongdoing by the government, the Court of Justice of the Republic. Three professional magistrates joined by 12 members of parliament — six from the lower house and six from the Senate — heard the case, and a majority of eight votes was required to decide on the question of guilt.
The proceedings marked the first time in modern France that a government minister was put on trial while still in office for actions taken as a minister, according to legal historians.
Dupond-Moretti left the court a few minutes after the verdict without speaking.
Defense lawyer Jacqueline Laffont expressed “satisfaction” and “huge emotion” at the decision, which she said showed her client “for three years had been unjustly accused.”
“For us, it is firstly the consecration of a judicial crusade … It is the victory of law … also the victory of the separation of powers,” Laffont said, adding: “Law triumphed and justice triumphed.”