PARIS — The French presidency refused to let investigators enter the Elysée Palace on Tuesday as part of a probe into contracts linked to memorial ceremonies, invoking the immunity enjoyed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The investigators that presented themselves at the Elysée Palace weren’t granted entry, according to a French presidency official who was granted anonymity for protocol reasons.
“Investigators … were told that the documents pertaining to Élysée Palace staff, which are unrelated to the President’s official duties and can therefore be disclosed, would be provided to them upon request,” an Elysée official said.
According to a statement from National Financial Prosecutor Pascal Prache, the failed raid was conducted within a probe linked to contracts over the organization of memorial ceremonies. French presidency staff told investigators they couldn’t search the Elysée Palace because the premises are covered by presidential immunity, the statement said.
The investigators had been looking into allegations of favoritism, corruption, influence peddling and conflict of interest in relation to the staging of memorial ceremonies at the Panthéon in Paris, per the prosecutor’s statement. The Panthéon mausoleum holds the remains of France’s great men and women, and several illustrious figures such as French-American singer Josephine Baker have been inducted in recent years.
According to French newspaper Le Canard Enchainé, which was the first to report on the attempted raid at the Elysée Palace, investigators were looking into why a firm called Shortcut Events had been repeatedly given contracts to organize ceremonies in the Pantheon. According to the newspaper, each ceremony cost €2 million.
Investigators are reportedly looking into links between Shortcut Events and the Centre for National Monuments, a French institution that manages the country’s vast historical heritage.
French police barred from raiding Macron’s palace to investigate Panthéon contracts
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