Publication	The Sunday Observer
Date	2001-07-19
Reporter	"A Student of Politics "
Web Link	http://www.taipeitimes.com

A former French Foreign Minister, Roland Dumas faces a three week trial for his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal that has rocked the country.

Roland Dumas was Foreign Minister for seven years under President Francois Miterrand. Dumas was later elevated to the post of President of the Constitutional Court, which is equal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Normally, the French people do not worry much about their leaders' marital affairs. However, Dumas' life has been tainted by his former mistress Christine Deviers-Joncour, a divorcee 25 years his junior.

Dumas's scandal came to light in January 1990. Thomson CSF, a then state-owned defence company, wanted to sell six frigates to Taiwan. The Socialist government of Francois Miterrand, in which Dumas served as foreign minister, vetoed the sale, fearing it would damage relations with China. Another firm, Elf, reputedly expert in the easing of politically sensitive international deals, was brought in to lobby on Thomson's behalf. Elf, hired Deviers-Joncour to this end. In August 1991, the veto was lifted. However, the French government did not give any explanation.

Mr. Dumas has been insisting that he never saw a single centime from the sale of the frigates. He emphasised that he opposed the deal, and his position in this matter was never changed. He also said that approval was granted by Miterrand and the then Prime Minister, Edith Cresson. Dumas also said that it was only later that he discovered an enormous commission of 500 million dollars, approved by Miterrand and the Ministry of Finance, which Elf had paid out.

In 1997, Mrs. Deviers-Joncour was under formal investigation for corruption, and she was under detention for five months in prison. She was accused of having received 12 million dollars in 1991 from the oil company, including a 45 million French francs as commission on the frigate deal.

As a longtime personal friend of President Francois Miterrand of France, Dumas enjoyed a place of paramount influence within the French government. A loyal supporter of Miterrand throughout his political career, he was the most trusted friend and confidant of the President.

Dumas had been a successful lawyer with a long list of celebrity clients including the father of modern art Pablo Piccasso. The friendship between President Miterrand and Dumas began in 1959, when Miterrand was entrapped in an embarrassing hoax that nearly ended his career and cost him the support of all but a few loyal followers. When President Miterrand's staged a fake shooting to build up his public standing and become a laughing stock at the Senate, Dumas was among the few in the Assembly who publicly defended Miterrand, and act of loyalty that Miterrand never forgot.

Miterrand was elected President in 1981 and he appointed Dumas as the Minister for European Affairs and in 1984 as Foreign Minister.

This made the Thomson's to realise that the proper person to get their things done was Dumas.

As the French Right regained control of parliament, Miterrand, approaching his end, awarded his close friend the presidency of France's Constitutional Court, a post more powerful, because the Council alone decides whether new laws passed by parliament are acceptable or not. Dumas held this high office of state and whether he used his influence to rake in underhand cash when foreign minister, is the rub.

However, Dumas had to step aside temporarily as head of the Constitutional Council in response to the anger of the public. His case has created a crisis in the French legal system. Most of the Supreme Court judges are hesitant to judge one of their own. However, the Dumas case is a major embarrassment for the nine member council, which has a wide range of jurisdictional tasks, including ensuring that laws passed by the National Assembly conform with the constitution. The council has remained mute about the consequences that might follow from the inculpation and possible conviction of its own President, writes Barry James. Dumas' Presidentship began in 1995 and ends this year. However, this Constitutional Council still functions without a head and has passed several important legislative decisions.

The public prosecutor in Paris, Jean Pierre Dintilhac issued an 80-page indictment. He summed up the main elements of a case that has filled the gossip pages of the Paris press for the past few years. The two investigating magistrates in charge of the case, Eva Joly and Laurence Vichnievsky, accepted the prosecution's demand that the cast should be heard by a correctional tribunal, a nonjury court that rules in cases normally punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.

The prosecutor in his charges, says that Dumas received benefits worth upto 8 million francs he knew to have been illegally obtained from Elf. The alleged benefits ranged from an 11,000-franc pair of handmade boots, to a 60,000 franc painting, to use of an apartment.

Further, the magistrates believe Elf employed Deviere-Joncour between 1989 and 1993 as a favour to Mr. Dumas.

However, during the first two days of hearing Joncour has admitted that Elf paid her some 9.2 million dollars over a four-year period, and she told the court that she had worked hard for the cash, lobbying Dumas on behalf of Elf.

The former Foreign Minister received a setback at the start of the hearing as two witnesses, including a former Prime Minister Michael Rocord, called to testify on his behalf, informed the court they would not be showing up.

With acknowledgment to The Sunday Observer