The trial of Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt, tried for favoritism, opened in Paris on Monday, November 28.
The facts date back to 2009, when at the time, Olivier Dussopt was mayor of the town of Annonay in Ardèche. The current Minister of Labor is on trial for favoritism towards the Urban and Rural Development Company (Saur), a water treatment company. He is suspected of having favored this company in the context of obtaining a public contract.
Olivier Dussopt is not the only one to appear before the Paris criminal court, the former general director of Saur, Olivier Brousse, is also present, accused of “complicity in favoritism by instigation”. The Saur company, the third largest water company in France, is also one of those accused as a legal entity for “concealment of favoritism”.
The two men risk a fine of 30,000 euros as well as two years in prison. Saur, for its part, risks a fine of 1.8 million euros. Saur told AFP in February that it considers that “this residual action against him, almost fifteen years after the events, is not justified.” All the accused contest the facts and as soon as the trial opened on Monday, the Minister of Labor said he was coming to “demonstrate good faith”.
The case began in 2020 with an article from Mediapart which first revealed that a local manager of Saur had offered in 2017 to the mayor at the time, two lithographs by the painter Gérard Garouste, before the signing of a new contract . The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) then opened an investigation into favoritism, corruption and illegal taking of interest. The investigation did not result in any follow-up but a search of the Ardèche home of the elected official was carried out by police officers from the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses. A report dated 2009 of a meeting with the director of Saur discussing the water management market and an email about the evolution of the call for tender criteria were found, leading the PNF to think that an arrangement could have been established.
Suspicions that Mr. Dussopt had refuted. Le Monde reports that another significant document was found at Mr. Dussopt’s home. This is an email dating from 2019 that the minister sent to the general director of services of the municipality of Annonay in which he asks to insert clauses in the call for tenders in favor of Saur, according to the PNF and in particular a “specific one relating to the satisfaction of the outgoing service provider”. At the end of its investigation, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office is therefore convinced that Mr Brousse was able to benefit from information to which his competitors Suez and Veolia did not have access.
