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France: Intelligence officers sacked

01 July 1994

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Two senior police intelligence officers were sacked by Interior Minister Charles Pasqua in July after the news broke that Renaeignments Generaux (Special Branch) had eavesdropped on the Socialist Party headquarters. One of the officers, Claude Bardon, was head of intelligence in Paris. Pasqua immediately distanced himself from the spying operation saying it had been an 'individual initiative'.

An agent was instructed by Bertrand Michelin, the other sacked officer, to attend a top-level meeting of the Socialist Party, at which Michel Rocard, party leader, offered his resignation after the party's disastrous showing in the European elections. The agent posed as a technician and gained entry to a translation booth where he used the telephone to give a verbatim account of the discussions to Michelin, who was sufficiently pleased at the results to brag about it openly afterwards.

Such spying is illegal and has caused a setback for Pasqua who has proposed new police measures including the setting up of video surveillance cameras in city streets and centres and police powers to stop and search cars within 10 kilometres (7 miles) of demonstrations. The law looks certain to be passed given the government's massive majority but human rights groups, trade unionists, MPs and judges are planning to appeal to the constitutional court which overturned other laws proposed by Pasqua last year.

Reflex, Paris.

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