FRANCE: Intelligence officers sacked (1)
01 January 1991
FRANCE: Intelligence officers sacked
artdoc August=1994
Two senior police intelligence officers were sacked by Interior
Minister Charles Pasqua in July after the news broke that
Renaeignments Generaux (Special Branch) had eavesdropped on the
Socialist Party headquarters. One of the officers, Claude Bardon,
was head of intelligence in Paris. Pasqua immediately distanced
himself from the spying operation saying it had been an
`individual initiative'.
An agent was instructed by Bertrand Michelin, the other sacked
officer, to attend a top-level meeting of the Socialist Party,
at which Michel Rocard, party leader, offered his resignation
after the party's disastrous showing in the European elections.
The agent posed as a technician and gained entry to a translation
booth, where he used the telephone to give a verbatim account of
the discussions to Michelin, who was sufficiently pleased at the
results to brag about it openly afterwards.
Such spying is illegal and has caused a setback for Pasqua who
has proposed new police measures including the setting up of
video surveillance cameras in city streets and centres and police
powers to stop and search cars within 10 kilometres (7 miles) of
demonstrations. The law looks certain to be passed given the
government's massive majority but human rights groups, trade
unionists, MPs and judges are planning to appeal to the
constitutional court which overturned other laws proposed by
Pasqua last year.
Reflex, Paris.
Statewatch, Vol 4 no 4, July-August 1994