FRENCH MAGISTRATES and police will cancel court hearings and hold demonstrations this week in protest over a claim by President Nicolas Sarkozy that the judicial system was to blame for the death of a young woman.
Mr Sarkozy has blamed “serious dysfunctions” in judicial and police services for the release from prison, without proper supervision, of a man now under investigation in relation to the murder of a 18-year-old woman in western France. The head, arms and legs of Laetitia Perrais were found in a pond near Saint-Nazaire last week, and her death has attracted extensive media coverage.
“When you let an individual like the suspect out of prison without making sure that he will be monitored by a probation officer, that is a mistake,” said Mr Sarkozy.
Magistrates and police say they carried out their duties as best they could and blame Mr Sarkozy’s government for not providing them with enough staff to monitor offenders when they are released. In Nantes, where the suspect in the Perrais case was handled, just 17 probation officers have responsibility for 3,300 detainees.
In protest at what they see as a populist gesture by Mr Sarkozy, trade unions have called for courthouses across the country to cancel non-urgent hearings all week and for demonstrations to take place on Thursday.
With signs that the unprecedented stand-off was spreading from western France, the prime minister’s office yesterday called the interior and justice ministers to an emergency meeting to agree a response.
Christophe Regnard, president of the main magistrates’ union USM, said the president – who has criticised the judicial system in the past – should “assume his responsibilities and stop blaming others for his own errors”.
Since Friday, judges in Rennes and Quimper have cancelled all non-urgent hearings in protest at Mr Sarkozy’s remarks. They are expected to be joined by their colleagues in other cities this week, with demonstrations due to take place in Strasbourg and Nantes on Thursday.
In a stinging rebuke to the president, the prominent anti-terrorism magistrate Marc Trévidic called him a “multi-recidivist” for his attacks on judges.
“For years we have been saying we don’t have the means to function properly – it didn’t begin with Nicolas Sarkozy. But the difference is that now it’s our fault,” he said.
France’s spending on its judicial system, as a proportion of GDP, is among the lowest in Europe.