former Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt acquitted

Olivier Dussopt was tried for favoritism in a public market in 2009 when he was mayor of Annonay, in Ardèche.

Olivier Dussopt, former Minister of Labor, is acquitted for the acts of favoritism for which he was tried by the Paris criminal court, a franceinfo journalist noted during the hearing on Wednesday January 17.

This judgment comes at the end of the trial which took place in December. Then Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt was tried for favoritism in a public contract in 2009 when he was mayor of Annonay in Ardèche. The judgment was rendered in the absence of Olivier Dussopt, “bedridden, he couldn’t come”declared the president in the preamble to the judgment on Wednesday.

Immediately, Olivier Dussopt reacted through his lawyer: “Justice has restored his honor, he is very happy”, declared Georges Holleaux. The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) had requested ten months of suspended imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros.

Contacted by France Bleu Drôme Ardèche, Olivier Dussopt said he learned with “satisfaction with the acquittal pronounced by the Paris court today for the few facts which had not already been classified by the national financial prosecutor’s office”. The former minister claims that“after three and a half years of proceedings, I am happy that my innocence has been recognized and justice has been done to me”.

An investigation against the ex-minister justified according to Transparency international France

For its part, the Transparency International France association, which was not a civil party to the trial, reacted: “The investigation and debates, however, made it possible to highlight the risks linked to too direct and too informal contacts between the contracting authority and companies.” The association adds that“by accepting meetings without the presence of his administration, by later accepting gifts from a company with which his municipality was contractually linked, the former mayor of Annonay placed himself in an area with risk which fully justified the judicial investigations”.