Former Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie Sentenced to Six Months in Prison, Suspended, for Illegal Taking of Interest

Former minister Michèle Alliot-Marie was sentenced by the Nanterre Criminal Court to six months of imprisonment, fully suspended, on Friday, September 6, for illegal taking of interests from 2010 to 2012, when she was deputy mayor of Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). The lawyers of the former Minister of Defense, Interior, Justice and Foreign Affairs under Jacques Chirac, then Nicolas Sarkozy, immediately announced that they would appeal.

Michèle Alliot-Marie was indicted in February 2019 for “illegal taking of interests” in this investigation into suspicious movements of funds in Saint-Jean-de-LuzThe investigation was opened in 2013. The investigations focused in particular on suspicious movements of funds in local associations responsible for organizing a festival chaired by the father of Michele Alliot-Marie, now dead.

In July, the prosecution had requested two-year suspended prison sentence for the former minister, requisitions judged “excessive” by the defendant’s counsel. The prosecution had also requested a fine of 50,000 euros and a three-year ineligibility for the former MP.