Strange culture, the French.
Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry denounced “degrading images” and said France was lucky to have a law on the presumption of innocence that bars media from showing defendants in handcuffs before they are convicted.
Former Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou, who drafted that law, called the pre-trial publicity “absolutely sickening.”
“The power of these images of a Dominique Strauss-Kahn who hasn’t been allowed to shave, tired, and not dressed properly, all that offends human dignity,” she told Europe 1 radio.
Another respected former justice minister, Robert Badinter, who pushed through the abolition of the death penalty in France, said the IMF chief had been subjected to “death by media.”
“Never forget it’s not just judges that are elected (in New York), but prosecutors. And the chief of police is elected. And clearly, in public opinion, to exhibit a powerful rich man in the presence of a victim from a very poor background, electorally, it pays off.”
Actually the police chief isn’t elected. The commissioner serves at the pleasure of the mayor. Interesting contempt for elections the French socialist justice minister is showing here. Why does he hate American democracy?
At any rate, it’s worth keeping all of this in mind the next time the French lecture us on how we treat captured terrorists at Gitmo. If they see DSK’s treatment as such a horror (while expressing absolutely no sympathy for his alleged victim), they’re likely to see pretty much anything else we do in similar terms.
ALWAYS PLAY THE VICTIM.
well what about the real victim!!!!
I tend to agree that the perp walk is something we could do without. Presumption of innocence, and all that.
But the notion that he should get special treatment because he is rich and powerful, well, that’s very European of them, isn’t it? You would think a good Marxist like Dominique would insist on being treated like The People, so I guess he’s probably happy to be banged up with the proles without bail.
Ah yes, the French “presumption of innocence”. The French legal system still is the old Code Napoleon. There is no independent review of charges. There are no Grand Juries. As noted, the Chief of Police is appointed by the Mayor of the Commune. How does one become Mayor? The Mayor is selected by the Municipal Council. They at least are elected to 6 year terms.
But the Mayor wears two hats. Under his municipal hat, he does the day to day running of the commune. However, he also is a representative of the national government with executive authority that over-rides the municipal power. Under his National hat, he is a direct subordinate of the Prefect of the Department [like our state]. The Prefect is … directly appointed at the pleasure of the President of the Republic. So the Mayor, who appoints the police chief, takes his orders from the President of France, with no checks and balances. Yep, NO chance of political influence on law enforcement.
But that is not all. Under the French system, the judges are considered to be part of the prosecution, and both judges and prosecutors are appointed by and maintained in office at the pleasure of the Minister of Justice. Who is appointed by the President of the Republic.
This codifies a patronage system that Richard Daley, Sr. of Chicago could only envy.
And we will not go into detail about the fact that all the positions at Mayor and above functionally have to be filled by graduates of the École Nationale d’Administration, regardless of political party; which has admission policies sufficiently incestuous as to make Harvard look like a Head Start school.
If you are arrested in France; it means that you lack the political and social connections to be protected; because it also means that you will be convicted, pretty much regardless of the evidence.
So, of course, they are shocked to see one of the énarques [ENA graduates, although Strauss-Kahn actually failed entrance to ENA, but later became a professor there] actually in custody for a crime. Such is just not done in France.
There is a reason that the shadow of totalitarianism is always descending on the US; but somehow always manages to land in Europe.
Subotai Bahadur
Thank you for detailing the complicated political patronage that undergirds the French legal system. At one time, I knew some of this, but had quite simply forgotten how incestuous and insidious the whole structure was.
So, what would constitute a trial by his peers? A collection of EU pols flying in for the day to give Strauss-Kahn a free pass and reinstate him to IMF?
Don’t they also have special security courts that are pretty much off the radar?
And while we are all appalled at the conditions DSK will experience at Rykers, we should not forget the exemplary conditions of the holding tank in Paris, which was only rectified after EU reports.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/1500338/Cells-at-Frances-Palais-de-Justice-condemned-as-squalid-and-inhumane-dungeons.html
Don’t believe a word any of these French elitists say about our barbaric American ways.
I lived in France, and speak the language well. Let me tell you something about French law enforcement. You ain’t never seen a cop beat-down like a French cop beat-down. They can be brutal, and they definitely don’t view themselves as having a mandate to “help” the public. They are there to enforce order, and they view the common citizen as an annoyance. The national police, the Gendarmes, often live in segregated compounds, definitely a world apart from the commoners.
American cops can abuse their authority, but you can often approach them on the street and get friendly advice and directions. Same for British cops. Don’t try it with French cops.
i agree with the french .