ZCZC
BFF-40
FRANCE-POLITICS-MELENCHON-INVESTIGATION
French leftist leader questioned over EU ‘fake jobs’ claims
PARIS, Oct 18, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – French police on Thursday questioned
leftist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon in connection with two funding probes after
raids on his home and party headquarters this week which he loudly protested.
The firebrand leader of the France Unbowed party, who has led opposition to
President Emmanuel Macron’s economic reforms, was summoned to the
headquarters of the anti-corruption bureau in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
The police are investigating allegations that he used EU funds for European
Parliament assistants to pay staff for work carried out in France. They are
also probing allegations of irregularities in his 2017 presidential campaign
accounts.
The 67-year-old MP, who won 20 percent of the vote in the first round of
last year’s presidential election, has denied any wrongdoing and claimed he
is the victim of a political witch hunt.
He reacted furiously to the raids on his home and party headquarters on
Tuesday, shouting at police officers, shoving a prosecutor and attempting to
force open the door of his party’s offices while the search was ongoing.
The former Socialist minister has been strongly criticised over his
outburst, with members of Macron’s government and centre-right Republicans
accusing him of seeking to intimidate public servants and acting as if he
were above the law.
Melenchon, who is famous for his tirades against globalisation, the EU and
elites, admitted later that things “got heated” but said he had “no regrets”.
The Paris prosecutor’s office is investigating him and other party
officials for “threats and acts of intimidation against judicial authorities”
and “violence against people carrying out public duties”.
Melenchon’s party has filed a counter-complaint for police violence.
Thursday’s questioning related to two investigations into his party’s
spending.
Melenchon is one of several French politicians, including far-right leader
Marine Le Pen, who are accused of using funds available to European
Parliament members for their Brussels-based assistants instead on political
staff working in France.
Le Pen’s National Rally (formerly National Front) and the centrist Modem
party have also been raided by investigators in recent months.
Melenchon, who was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2017,
has denied the fake job allegations, which were made by a member of the
National Rally.
He was also questioned Thursday over his 2017 campaign spending,
specifically over invoices presented by two associations run by party
loyalists.
Melenchon, like Le Pen, has claimed that the investigations are an attempt
to silence him.
“France Unbowed is not treated like everyone else,” he said Thursday,
accusing the state of “trying to scare us”.
BSS/AFP/RY/20:01 hrs