MP Hubert Julien-Laferrière is suspected of corruption in the foreign interference affair which notably caused the downfall of BFMTV journalist Rachid M’Barki.
A year after the revelations of a vast affair of foreign interference in the French media and political spheres, a new Franceinfo investigation revives suspicions around an environmentalist MP. The name of Hubert Julien-Laferrière, deputy for Rhône, appears in exchanges between protagonists in the affair. The 57-year-old elected official announced in a press release this Thursday, February 15, “to withdraw from the parliamentary group of environmentalists in order to preserve the serenity of the parliamentary work of his colleagues”.
According to the Franceinfo investigation, Hubert Julien-Laferrière would have been contacted by foreign sponsors to defend subjects within Parliament, in particular by being at the origin of two forums, a first against the United Arab Emirates and a second on Benin. In exchange for these missions, he would have received a monthly sum of 5,000 euros for one year, accompanied by several bonuses.
The Génération Ecologie MP “strongly refutes the accusations against him”, indicates the press release from his lawyer, but “he wishes to do so within the framework of the current legal proceedings and, at this stage, nowhere else. ” The MP reacted to the Franceinfo investigation by deploring a “violation of the secrecy of the investigation”.
This investigation “reveals new information, previously unknown to the Ecologist Group,” Hubert Julien-Laferrière’s colleagues said in another press release, adding that “the actions described, if proven, contravene the imperative of probity, which must govern political life.
