The anti-corruption association Anticor denounces the non-renewal of its approval by the government

The government had until midnight on Tuesday to renew Anticor’s approval, which it did not do. “We are well aware that our actions against corruption deeply annoy the government,” said the association.

Anticor’s approval has not been renewed by the government. The anti-corruption association was awaiting a response to its request by Tuesday, December 26, after the cancellation by the Paris administrative court of the previous approval. “It is an implicit refusal after six months of investigation by the Directorate of Criminal Affairs and Pardons where absolutely nothing has been criticized against us”, deduced Wednesday December 27 in the morning, Élise Van Beneden, president of Anticor. Information confirmed from a diplomatic source to France Inter.

“This decision unfortunately does not surprise us because we are well aware that our actions against corruption deeply annoy the government”she reacts to franceinfo.

Tuesday, December 26, shortly before midnight, the association posted this message on the social network X: “There are 20 minutes left at the Quai d’Orsay to renew Anticor’s approval”. However, at “past midnight, white cabbage”, wrote the association in another publication. Wednesday December 27 in the morning, nothing appears in the Official Journal on this approval requested by Anticor. This “implicit refusal” intervenes “after a six-month investigation during which no malfunction was blamed on us by the government and even though the Prime Minister considered last October that Anticor met all the conditions to be approved”deplores Élise Van Beneden.

She announces that the association will “contest this decision before administrative justice”. According to the president of Anticor, “the good news is that it is the courts which will rule on Anticor’s compliance with the criteria to be approved”. So, she continues, “this allows us to get rid of the arbitrariness to which we have been subjected for three years”.

This decision “saddens us because it constitutes an obstacle to the action of hundreds of volunteers who fight throughout France against abuse of power”

Élise Van Beneden, president of Anticor

at franceinfo

The approval allows Anticor to intervene in cases combating alleged corruption. Without this key, the association can no longer file a civil suit. “while this approach is fundamental since it makes it possible to circumvent the decision of a prosecutor, whose career depends on the government, to close a sensitive political-financial case without further action”explains the president of Anticor.

“By becoming a civil party, Anticor was going to collect a political-financial file from the office of a prosecutor to deposit it in the office of an investigating judge who is constitutionally independent”, continues Élise Van Beneden. This is essential because “this made it possible to block impunity and to promote, to the extent of our strength, equality before the law by saying loud and clear that elected officials are not super-citizens and that they must be held accountable to justice and through it, to citizens”concludes the president of Anticor in a message sent to franceinfo.

“This decision in no way calls into question France’s determination to fight corruption”assures France Inter a diplomatic source. “The existence of a specialized prosecutor’s office with all the guarantees of independence, agencies, specialized investigation and intelligence services is sufficient proof of this”explains this same source adding that “the possibility for this association as for others to report cases to the courts and to file a complaint remains intact”.