The national financial prosecutor’s office announces that it is appealing the acquittal of Olivier Dussopt, former Minister of Labor, for favoritism.
Olivier Dussopt is ultimately not out of the woods yet. The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office announced this Wednesday, January 21 that it would appeal the acquittal of the former Minister of Labor in the case of suspicion of favoritism. A week after the court delivered its verdict, the PNF considers that “this decision raises questions of law with regard to the offense of favoritism which deserve to be submitted to the examination of the court of appeal”.
The former Minister of Labor was tried on January 17 in this case relating to the award of a water management contract worth 5.6 million euros to the Saur group in 2009, when he was mayor socialist of Annonay (Ardèche). The courts considered that the award of this contract was in accordance with the law, while in November the prosecution had requested a 10-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros against Olivier Dussopt.
This decision to appeal will restart the legal machine for several months, will it weigh on Olivier Dussopt’s political career? If the man was acquitted the first time, he will have to be tried again. What reduces possible hopes of joining the government of Gabriel Attal as delegate minister or secretary of state after having been dismissed as minister of Labor?
Olivier Dussopt’s return to government was not guaranteed and rumors about it were rare, but this news could be decisive. In any case, the deputy for Ardèche can still sit in the National Assembly while awaiting an appeal trial.