AN INQUIRY into claims that the French state illegally spied on a journalist from Le Mondehas escalated after a prominent prosecutor was formally placed under investigation.
Philippe Courroye, a prosecutor in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, said he was being investigated on suspicion of “illegally collecting data of a personal nature by fraudulent means” and “violating the confidentiality of sources”. Being mis en examen, or placed under judicial investigation, falls short of formal charges and does not necessarily lead to prosecution.
Le Mondealleged last year that spies had obtained the mobile phone records of its reporter Gérard Davet, in an attempt to trace the source of his stories about the so-called Bettencourt affair, a party-funding scandal that embarrassed President Nicolas Sarkozy's party and led to the resignation of a minister.
Mr Courroye, who is considered close to Mr Sarkozy, is the second senior official, after the head of France’s domestic intelligence agency, Bernard Squarcini, to be placed under investigation in relation to the spying claims. The prosecutor said he vigorously denied the accusations and would not resign.
Mr Sarkozy’s government initially ridiculed claims by Le Monde that it had spied on the journalist, but last September interior minister Claude Guéant admitted the secret service was instructed to trace the source of a “scandalous” leak.
Le Mondeclaims the interception of the records was in breach of a law that restricts phone tapping to cases where the interests of the state are under threat. It also contravened a law – strengthened by Mr Sarkozy's government in 2010 – that protects the freedom of the press, it says.
In a front-page editorial signed by its editor, Erik Izraelewicz, yesterday, the newspaper said the case raised serious questions for all journalists.
" Le Mondewill pursue its investigative work in every area. It will fight for the law on protection of sources to be clarified and respected," it said.
The paper also announced that it had lodged a separate legal complaint alleging that two of its reporters’ phone records were accessed by officials after they published articles on criminal activities in Corsica in 2009 and 2010.
Le Mondesaid this complaint arose from new information that came to light during the judicial inquiry into the original spying claims.
The use of phone taps has risen dramatically in France in the past decade, from 5,845 taps in 2002 to about 35,000 today, but allegations that they have been used for political ends are denied by the authorities.