The Minister of Culture asked for the cancellation of the indictment defined claiming that it be judged for corruption. She announced by the voice of her lawyers that she formed an appeal in cassation.
The investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal rejected this Thursday, June 26, morning the appeal of Rachida Dati in the corruption investigation, targeting it, since 2021, for supposed facts of “corruption” in the Renault-Nissan case.
The Minister of Culture asked for the cancellation of the final indictment, which in November 2024 demanded a trial against him for “corruption” and “influence traffic” in this case. She announced by the voice of her lawyers that she formed an appeal in cassation.
In this file (in which Carlos Ghosn is also targeted), the current minister is suspected of having perceived “in complete confidentiality, or even opacity” 900,000 euros, between 2010 and 2012, on the part of RNBV, a subsidiary of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, without having really worked. At the time, she was a lawyer and European deputy.
She disputes the facts
Investigators sought at length to find out if these fees had not used, in reality, to mask a lobbying activity in the European Parliament in favor of Renault, on the part of Rachida Dati, which the law prohibits.
The mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris has always challenged the facts in this file. Benefiting from the status of witness assisted at the origin of the procedure, she had ended up being indicted for “corruption”. Faced with the judges, she always claimed that she had been paid to advise Carlos Ghosn so that Renault can develop her activity in the Middle East. But few traces of this work were really found by their investigators.
According to our information, the public prosecutor had asked for the rejection of the request of Rachida Dati at the hearing held, in camera, on Thursday, March 20. And for good reason: the documents it evoke in its request are actually not mentioned in the final indictment.
In doing so, the public prosecutor had also indicated that the lawyers of the minister had all the time necessary during the investigation to contest this point, but that they had not done so.
Throughout the procedure, Rachida Dati has multiplied the appeals to try to torpedo the file targeting it or, at the very least, slow it down. Already twice (2021 and 2024), she tried to obtain, without success, the prescription of the facts.
