Maître Patrick Maisonneuve, lawyer for the European Parliament, at the Paris court, November 12, 2024. BEN LAMARE FOR “THE WORLD”
Patrick Maisonneuve has this good-natured, easily pat tone, as if all this was ultimately not a tragedy, but his claw strikes are deadly. The European Parliament’s lawyer brought up, before the Paris criminal court, Tuesday November 12, in one hour of pleading, all the ridiculousness of the defense of the defendants in the trial of the parliamentary assistants of the National Front (FN), and the demonstration is cruel.
Nicolas Bay, first. He is a deputy, representative of the nation, insisted the lawyer, and to prove that his assistant had worked well in the European Parliament, “he did not hesitate to present to the investigating judges press reviews reconstructed after the fact”. Yann Maréchal wrote, when he was offered a contract with his sister Marine Le Pen, “it will be seen”, “discretion is not total”worrying “tribulations” of her contract, while at party headquarters, she took care of major demonstrations. “As for Wallerand de Saint Just, insists Me Maisonneuvehe was asked to be assistant to the deputy Philippe Loiseau, designated volunteer. It’s a bit curious for a party treasurer, member of the executive office. And when someone says, “it’s a bit big”, the defense assures us that it was a bit big from a budgetary point of view! You have to dare…”
The most severe arrow is for Julien Odoul, who dreamed of working in Marine Le Pen’s office. The chief of staff wrote to him: “Phew, it’s OK, the financial arrangement is in a week. » “Hallelujah!” »the young man replied. And when he learned that he would be paid by Europe, he wrote, “no problem, I’m really motivated to work for the firm, and she won’t regret it”. The rest is to follow, “Mr. Odoul, who is supposed to have been hired for more than four months as an assistant, wrote to Marine Le Pen: “I would like to know the European Parliament. And that would allow me to get to know the MP to whom I am attached”reminds the lawyer mercilessly. Laughter in the room, not on the defense benches.
“Fictitious jobs”
“Mr Odoul is a French deputy, the lawyer gravely reminds, and spokesperson for his party. What an image this conveys! We can directly mock the court. We have no problem saying that judges are lax, but he is incapable of having a minimum of respect for judicial authority. » For the civil party, this is indeed a ” system “ with, as a highlight, the note from the treasurer which ensures: “We will only get out of this if we make significant savings on the European Parliament”.
