French court of appeals rejects admissibility of a legal complaint against three African heads of state – Transparence-International (France) and Association Sherpa both regret this decision – TI France wows to appeal before the high court
PARIS, 29 October 2009: Transparence-International France (TI France) and Sherpa deeply regret the decision rendered Thursday by the Court of Appeal of Paris in the complaint calling into question how an important volume of assets has been acquired in France by Presidents Denis Sassou Nguesso (Congo), Omar Bongo Ondimba (now deceased, Gabon), and Theodoro Obiang Mbasogo (Equatorial Guinea), as well as by their relatives.
The judges of appeal have upheld the decision rendered on 5 May 2009 by the Dean of investigative judges, thus rejecting the admissibility of the complaint filed by TI France on 2 December 2008 (1), according to a press release from Transparency International (TI).
Transparence-International (France) intends to present an appeal before the highest court of justice against the decision which it considers to be legally dubious.
The court decided to undermine the decision issued by the Dean of investigative judges although this decision complied with the recent evolution of case law. Indeed, most recent precedents support the admissibility of the complaint filed by TI France (2).
Todays decision only demonstrates how much further the French legal system has yet to evolve in order to allow specialised organisations to fulfil their rightful role. Barring that, the victims of corruption will be deprived of any mean to defend their rights.
Today’s decision is all the more regrettable as it prevents the opening of a judicial investigation, even though it is beyond question that the assets identified by the police in this case could not possibly have been accumulated through any legal means, such as salaries, knowing that there are strong suspicions of embezzlement of public funds by these ruling families.
A judicial investigation would allow the determination of the origin of funds used to acquire those suspicious assets in France. It would also shed light on the various intermediaries, in particular financial operators, involved in the transactions under scrutiny.
Despite todays ruling, TI France and Sherpa wish to emphasise the milestone nature of this legal complaint. As evidenced by the massive support it received both in France and overseas, including in Africa (3), this battle has already shaken the taboo and cast public attention on the assets flowing illegally from the South to countries in the North.
Both TI France and Sherpa are solidly convinced that sooner or later, the “misappropriated public assets” case will succeed, by improving the implementation of the principle of restitution, the cornerstone of the UN Convention against Corruption, and allowing entire populations to recover their stolen assets.
The UN Convention is the only global road-map against the systemic corruption that continues to punish the world’s most vulnerable.
The 3rd Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption, which will take place in Doha (Qatar) on 9-13 November 2009, will be a prime opportunity to further reinforce the application of said principle.
States parties to the convention are expected to reach consensus regarding the creation of a credible (4) review mechanism, capable of evaluating the effective implementation of commitments by 141 governments.
This conference will represent yet another test of the international community’s resolution to fight corruption on a global scale, TI writes.
1 Grégory Ngbwa Mintsa, a Gabonese citizen, had also lodged this complaint but he was found to have no standing to sue and had renounced appeal for personal safety reasons.
2 On the basis of article 2 of Criminal code of procedure, the Highest Court of justice has admitted in some cases that a non-legally entitled association could be ruled admissible as soon as the offence impairs the collective interests the association assigned itself to defend.
3 See the declaration of support from 14 african chapters and partner organisations of Transparency International during their last Annual Membership Meeting in Berlin on 17 and 18 October, 2009.
4 A credible follow-up mechanism would require field inspections by peers (member states), to take into account the recommendations of private actors and members of the civil society (unions, NGOs), as well as the implementation of a transparent process with full disclosure of final reports and contributions to the public.
PRESS CONTACTS :
Association Sherpa | Maître Bourdon | +33 6 08 45 55 46 | Maud Perdriel-Vaissière | +33 6 83 87 97 34 |
Transparence-International (France) | Myriam Savy | Daniel Lebègue | +33 1 47 58 82 08 | +33 6 07 42 01 83 | Julien Coll | +33 6 72 07 28 65
Transparency International is the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption. See more on www.transparency.org
