Marine Le Pen's conviction at first instance, seven-year prison sentence
requested for Nicolas Sarkozy... These past few weeks have been busy interms of political and legal news. Yet another symptom of a necrotic
bourgeois democracy and the relationship with authoritarian power
inseparable from the idea of the State. We were delighted on March 31st
when Marine Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison and five years
of ineligibility. We won't be fooled into thinking this decision could
be an effective brake on the rise of the far right, but what a pleasure
to see the crestfallen face of the Le Pen heiress. Beyond his own
person, the entire National Rally (RN) is condemned: eight elected
officials, 16 former parliamentary assistants, including major party
figures: Louis Alliot, Nicolas Bay, Bruno Gollnisch, Julien Odoul... And
the party itself, ordered, among other things, to repay the EUR4.4
million embezzled from the European Parliament through a widespread
system of fictitious employment.
"High-intensity corruption"
A few days later, Nicolas Sarkozy's trial concluded in the Gaddafi
affair. An extraordinary trial: 38 days of hearings spread over three
months. Thirteen defendants, including the former President of the
Republic, but also three former ministers: Brice Hortefeux, Claude
Guéant, and Eric Woerth. Among the civil parties, the three
anti-corruption organizations Sherpa, Anticor, and Transparency
International, which usually divide up the cases, formed a united front
for the first time in their history.
While this article focuses only on corruption and breaches of integrity
cases, it also includes other cases involving the government, primarily
Betharram.
Government Information Service
For details of the case, please refer to the excellent coverage by
Mediapart[1], which broke the story and has been covering it for 13
years. However, it should be noted that the accusation is simple: a
corruption pact allegedly linking the former President to former Libyan
dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who allegedly provided substantial funding for
the 2007 campaign, to the tune of tens of millions of euros.
The indictment is final: seven years' imprisonment and a EUR300,000 fine
for Sarkozy. The verdict will not be known until September 25. In his
speech, the prosecutor spoke of a trial that painted "a very dark
picture of a part of our Republic," marked by "high-level
corruption[...]up to the highest echelons of the State." Only a part?
One might doubt it.
"One case a day, and nobody cares."
Following these two convictions, one can only note the weakness of the
political and media reactions. We understand the professionals of
representative democracy: few are those who do not drag their own
skeletons in the closet[2].
Starting with Prime Minister François Bayrou: eight members of his
party, the Modem, were convicted in 2024 for embezzlement similar to
that practiced by the National Rally. Bayrou was acquitted, but the
prosecution has appealed. If he is still head of government during the
appeal, he will be able to appear in court while still serving as Prime
Minister; this would be a first.
The list of convicted elected officials is endless: Chirac, Juppé,
Fillon... And while the right particularly excels, both in the number of
cases and the amounts embezzled, the parliamentary left is not far
behind. We remember Cahuzac, whose case led to the creation of the High
Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP) and the National
Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF). But closer to home, we can also
talk about La France Insoumise (Unbowed France), where Jean-Luc
Mélenchon is being prosecuted for acts similar to those alleged against
the National Rally (RN) and the Modem (Modem), and where MP Sophia
Chikirou is being indicted for misuse of corporate assets and
concealment of breaches of trust in connection with the 2017
presidential campaign.
The trend is accelerating: between 2016 and 2021, cases of breaches of
integrity increased by 28% according to the French Anti-Corruption
Agency (AFA)[3]. This category includes acts of corruption, influence
peddling, illegal taking of interests, misappropriation of public funds,
and favoritism. Macron's five-year term will not slow things down: there
have been dozens of cases since his first election. The Kohler affair,
the Marianne fund, the Ferrand affair... The fraud is industrial. It is
a far cry from the "exemplary Republic" the President promised in 2017.
Since his first election, 26 of his ministers and close associates have
been implicated in scandals. The period was also marked by the end of
the "Balladur jurisprudence," which required a minister under
investigation to resign from office. Under Macron, this no longer seems
to be a problem, and ministers under judicial investigation have almost
become the norm. And it doesn't stop there; the President has also made
a specialty of awarding the Legion of Honor to former government
officials who were nevertheless involved in scandals. The graduating
class of January 1, 2025, thus included the names of Marlène Schiappa,
Olivier Dussopt, and Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. More recently, it was learned
that Macron opposed the withdrawal of decorations from Nicolas Sarkozy,
despite having been definitively convicted of corruption in the Bismuth
affair.
This conviction should, according to the Code of the Legion of Honor,
automatically exclude him from the Legion of Honor and the National
Order of Merit. But for the incumbent President, his status as Sarkozy's
former president should earn him a special privilege: a position
perfectly aligned with his authoritarian, monarchist vision of power.
As a result of this policy, the anti-corruption NGO Transparency
International dropped France five places in its annual Global Corruption
Perceptions Index, published in February. Having fallen to 25th place,
France finds itself, for the first time, ranked among the countries "at
risk of losing control of corruption." In its report, the NGO highlights
the obstacles to the fight against corruption, from underfunding of
anti-corruption resources to the non-renewal, for several months in
2024, of Anticor's accreditation, which prevented the anti-corruption
association from bringing civil actions in several cases. The report
also highlights "the increasing number of conflicts of interest between
the state and lobbies."
Elected officials represent only themselves.
Given the extent of the disaster, we should perhaps stop seeing it as a
dysfunction. More than a symptom of a sick society, this widespread
corruption is rather a symptom of a bourgeois democracy at the height of
its powers. It is the direct consequence of a representative system that
creates figures of providential men, convinced of their glorious destinies.
Transparency International maintains an online map of corruption in
France, eloquently illustrating its widespread nature.
Transparency International
Convinced that they are entrusted with a quasi-divine mission, it is not
surprising that they will use any means necessary to achieve their ends.
And beyond egos, there is the lure of gain: profits are counted in the
millions for the happy professionals of politics, for whom public
affairs are above all a career. To these practices, anarchists have
always opposed a rejection of the delegation of power, particularly
unchecked and uncontrolled by the public. It goes hand in hand with a
rejection of the professionalization of politics. This only leads to the
exclusion of the masses from decision-making and power, and to
corruption that becomes widespread as politicians' personal interests
override their interest in fulfilling their mandates.
In this respect, the French judicial system is, in a way, an integral
part of this corruption machine. Everything is accumulated to ensure
impunity for those responsible who are caught. The underfunding of
investigative services ensures investigation times regularly exceed ten
years. And even once convicted, there are multiple avenues of recourse:
appeals and cassation proceedings can still delay the final judgment for
several years. The Sarkozy case is a telling example: now 70 years old,
a retired politician is on trial, his entire criminal career largely
behind him, and the justice system of the Republic has posed no
obstacles: that's not what it's there for.
This is perhaps what caused such a stir when Marine Le Pen's
disqualification was announced: for once, the justice system seems to
genuinely want to obstruct the political rise of a convicted official.
In the realm of impunity, there is reason to be surprised. It must be
said that politicians are accustomed to an exceptional regime that takes
care not to rush them. Because for the rest of the population,
provisional executions are commonplace, whether it's the suspension of a
driver's license, who will not wait for trial, or even incarceration for
all sorts of reasons. In France, nearly 30% of prisoners are held in
pretrial detention and await their trial in cells. For these people, we
won't hear talk of the presumption of innocence: it's a privilege
reserved for the dominant classes. For while it cajoles leaders and the
bourgeoisie with one hand, with the other, justice fully assumes its
role of social control.
The State, Tool of the Bourgeoisie
Ultimately, this widespread corruption is perhaps the most blatant
embodiment of the libertarians' critique of the state. Both a tool of
the bourgeoisie to exercise and maintain its power, and an autonomous
system of oppression seeking to perpetuate and continually strengthen
itself, the state is the enemy of emancipation and direct democracy. Far
from being a degeneration, corruption is simply the dual product of its
relationship to the bourgeoisie-which seeks to influence it by all
means-and its desire to maintain itself, whatever the cost, even if it
means becoming a tool of private interests.
Always nationalistic and profoundly unequal, the state normalizes a
hierarchical worldview in the collective imagination, where the
differences in treatment between leaders and those they lead ultimately
seem almost natural. It is this logic that leads to the media coverage
of these cases: accused of exceptional circumstances, both Le Pen and
Sarkozy had the luxury of an appearance on the 8 p.m. news to answer
their accusations. Far from a libertarian vision where those in office
have, above all, duties, state representatives enjoy, above all, rights,
even privileges, compared to the rest of the population.
The experience of state socialisms has shown us: to defeat corruption,
attacking capitalism will not be enough. Only a consistent and
revolutionary libertarian anti-statism will lay the foundations for a
society free from abuses of power of all kinds.
N. Bartosek (UCL Alsace)
Validate
[1]Mediapart offers numerous formats for understanding the ramifications
of the affair, grouped together on the freely accessible page
"Sarkozy-Kadhafi: A Trial for History," which includes a timeline of
events. In addition to their articles, you can also consult the podcast
"Sarkozy-Kadhafi: Two Journalists Facing a State Affair," or the film
"Nobody Understands Anything," released in theaters on January 8 and
available on VOD starting May 8.
[2]Antton Rouget, "Corruption: One Affair a Day, But Everyone Doesn't
Care," Mediapart, December 6, 2024.
[3]"28% Increase in Breaches of Integrity Recorded in France Between
2016 and 2021," Le Monde, October 27, 2022.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Justice-La-corruption-maladie-endemique-de-l-Etat
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