The Office of the National Assembly decided Wednesday, March 18 unanimously to lift the parliamentary immunity of the deputy mayor of Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine) Patrick Balkany (UMP), has-been learned from one of the officers, Damien Abad (UMP).
Patrick Balkany was indicted in October for bribery and tax evasion laundering in an investigation as to his wife.
The office of the Assembly, which comprises 22 members including its president Claude Bartolone ( PS), took the waiver of immunity decision very quickly, in less than 30 minutes.
The request judges Renaud van Ruymbeke and Patricia Simon made to it is intended to impose a judicial review Patrick Balkany , including that he hand over his passport and can not leave French territory, a source close to the case.
Any measure custodial (custody, custody, judicial) against a parliamentarian must be approved by the House of which he is a member, except for crime, flagrante delicto or a final sentence.
30 years in power in Levallois-Perret
The judges suspect Patrick Balkany and Isabelle woman to be the beneficial owners, to without the knowledge of tax, of two villas where they reside regularly in St. Maarten in the Caribbean and Marrakech.
For the villa in Marrakech, investigators suspect the couple for having hidden behind off companies -shore and have used as a nominee of one of their relatives, Jean-Pierre Aubry, former Director General of the mixed economy company management of Levallois-Perret.
In the context of this case, the two judges were also indicted Isabelle Balkany and Jean-Pierre Aubry for tax evasion laundering. First assistant Levallois had also been imposed bail of one million.
Close friends of President Nicolas Sarkozy of the UMP, Patrick and Isabelle Balkany rule set almost immutably 30 years in Levallois-Perret despite their legal troubles or their media pranks. In the last municipal there one year, Mr. Balkany , 66, was re-elected as the first round with his wife as first assistant.
Montesquiou Also in the viewfinder
Office of the Senate also lifted the parliamentary immunity of Senator Gers Aymeri de Montesquiou (UDI-UC), as part of the investigation on suspicion of commission received sidelines contracts with Kazakhstan. “It is I who have called for the lifting of my immunity, because the file is completely empty,” reacted immediately Senator Gers. “This changes the nature of things.”
Aymeri de Montesquiou was the representative of Nicolas Sarkozy in Central Asia. His office and home were searched as part of the case related to contracts under Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency for a total of two billion, including the purchase of 45 helicopters manufactured by Eurocopter (now Airbus . Helicopters) and 295 locomotives
Another request for waiver of parliamentary immunity was forwarded to the Senate: it concerns the senator from Tarn-et-Garonne Yvon Collin (RDSE) and relates to a matter of corruption. For YvesCollin, it is a “trap”, “as the saying is-corrupting never complained.”
(With AFP)
No comments:
Post a Comment