Corruption case filed by Transparency International France and a Gabonese citizen ruled partially admissible

First step towards the recognition of the rights of victims of corruption

Paris, France, 05 May 2009

Sherpa and Transparency International (France) welcome the decision of the Dean of investigating judges who ruled that an anti-corruption case lodged by Transparence-International (France) and Mr. Gregory Ngbwa Mintsa, a Gabonese citizen, in December 2008 was admissible.

The case called for the French authorities to investigate how a large amount of expensive real estate and other assets was acquired in France by 3 African Presidents, Denis SASSOU N’GUESSO (Congo-Brazzaville), Omar BONGO-ONDIMBA (Gabon) and Teodoro OBIANG MBASOGO (Equatorial Guinea), their family members and close associates.

Sherpa and TI France believe that this case is a major contribution to advancing the cause of collective legal actions aiming to defend the victims of corruption overall. For the first time, a civil action taken by an organization specialised in fighting against corruption to denounce facts directly affecting its collective interests has been ruled admissible.

However, the admissibility is partial given that only Transparency International (France) was ruled admissible. Gregory Ngbwa Mintsa, the Gabonese citizen who had the courage to lodge the complaint alongside TI (France), was dismissed. This solution, rather severe, underlines the point that French law has to evolve to allow taxpayers, the very first victims of corrupt practices, to lodge complaints. With this respect, Gregory doesn’t exclude the possibility to appeal against this decision.

By recognising the right of Transparency International (France) in this case to seek redress, the Dean of investigating judges has permitted the opening of a judicial investigation and the nomination of an investigating judge. This judge will have to determine how the assets owned in France were acquired, and where the funds in the many bank accounts uncovered during a preliminary police investigation came from. The investigation will also throw light on the various intermediaries involved in the transactions under scrutiny, namely the banks identified by the police investigation whose compliance with anti- money laundering regulations is in question.

Without prejudice to the result of the judicial investigation, Sherpa and Transparency International (France) hope that it will uncover the truth about the origin of the contested assets, and eventually leads to the concrete implementation of the right to restitution - a fundamental principle of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which was ratified by France in 2005.

The decision of the Dean of investigating judges also highlights the need for there to be fully independent investigating judges in France, who can freely launch prosecutions and conduct investigations. This is even more necessary when legal actions are politically sensitive, as in this case involving allegedly stolen state assets

Sherpa and Transparency-International (France) hope that the Public Prosecutor will not appeal against this decision.