Have French ministers taken part in clandestine dinners, in contravention of the health measures in force? An investigation was opened Sunday after the broadcast of a report where an anonymous source claims.
The public prosecutor Rémy Heitz “seized this day the Brigade for the repression of delinquency in the person (BRDP) of the Paris judicial police of an investigation of the heads of endangerment of others and of hidden work”, a indicated the Paris prosecutor’s office, requested by AFP.
“Its objective will be to check whether parties have been organized in disregard of health rules and to determine who were the possible organizers and participants”, the same source said.
In a report broadcast Friday evening on the private channel M6, an anonymous source maintains that ministers, not named, participated in luxury clandestine dinners in Paris, in defiance of the bans enacted to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin tweeted on Sunday that he “asked the Paris police chief to verify the accuracy of the reported facts in order, if they are verified, to prosecute the organizers and participants of these dinners”.
M6 filmed in a hidden camera in a place presented as “an underground restaurant located in the beautiful districts”, where the participants and the waiters do not wear masks and do not respect barrier gestures. The channel also obtained images of a paid evening, where dozens of guests appear without masks, some kissing each other.
One of the organizers interviewed, presented as a “collector”, affirms in a disguised voice-over: “I had dinner this week in two or three restaurants which are supposedly underground restaurants, with a certain number of ministers. So that makes me laugh softly. We are in a democracy. We do what we want ”.
The controversy was widely relayed on social networks. It’s the hottest topic on Twitter, under the hashtag #OnVeutLesNoms.
The Minister Delegate for Citizenship Marlène Schiappa estimated that “if ministers or deputies” took part in clandestine dinners in Paris, “they must have fines and be penalized like any other citizen” .
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, also declared that “there is no privilege for anyone”, adding: “I would be curious that this restaurateur gives the names of the ministers if he is so well informed that this ”.
“All the ministers, without exception, respect the rule, no one believes they are entitled to any privilege whatsoever,” insisted Mr. Le Maire.