French Interior Minister to sue top cop over Nice allegations

The Minster for the Interior said today, Sunday, that he will take legal action for defamation against the head of the video surveillance for the municipal police in the city of Nice, Sandra Bertin.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on July 22 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

This, after an interview published in the Sunday newspaper, Journal du Dimanche, claimed Cazeneuve had interferred in the compiling of a report by the CSU on the deadly attacks on July 14.

In the interview, Bertin, who was in charge of the video surveillance of the Promenade des Anglais on the night of the attack, claimed that she was told by a Commissioner sent by the Minister of the Interior to mention that there was a number of national police officers present on the night in question when the attack took place.

Harassment claims

“I had to deal with someone who appeared to be in a rush and who asked me to indicate the presence of the Municipal Police at security points,  and barriers, and to make it clear that we also saw the National Police at two points in the safety net around the area…

“The National Police could well have been there, but they didn’t appear in any of the video surveillance [we took],” she said in the interview.

“The same person also asked me to email me a copy of the report that could be modified.

“I was harassed for an hour by this person and told to type [into the report] the specific positions of the police, which I hadn’t seen on the video footage.”

She said she finally conceded and sent two copies of the report, one modifiable the other not modifiable.

Cazeneuve responds
 

However, today, Sunday, in a press statement, the Minister for the Interior, described the accusations as “unwarranted”  an were the result of "virulent polemic" emanating from certain political quarters” in Nice and which have “become more and more trenchant since the terrible events of July 14.”

The Minister for Justice, Jean-Jacques Urvoas, for his part, said that the inquiry into the terrible events was being carried out by independent maigstrates under the auspices of the prosecutor of Paris “since the very first days of the inquiry.”

Cazeneuve also challenged Bertin to sit down with investigators and provide the name of the person who harassed her, and the emails which she claims to have sent with the copies of the report.

The right-wing National Front, which has a strong power-base in Nice, for its part demanded the resignation of Cazeneuve, and said the statement by Bertin were “an overwhelming testimony… which confirms the fears of the French people that those in power are trying to cover-up what happened.”