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Judges were protesting against comments by President Sarkozy AP Photo/Francois Mori
France

Sarkozy under pressure as French judges protest

The French president’s comments about a controversial murder case sparked an outcry from the country’s judiciary.

FRANCE’S LEGAL SYSTEM was left paralysed yesterday as judges and lawyers took the streets in an unprecedented protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Judges took the streets in cities and towns across the country and were joined by prison officers and police unions who have until now traditionally supported Sarkozy, reports The Guardian.

The protests followed the president’s handling of a murder case that has gripped the nation.

The controversy began after the so called the Laetitia-case where an 18-year-old girl was abducted near Nantes. She was then allegedly butchered by a serial offender with previous convictions who had recently been released from an 11-year prison sentence.

The suspect refuses to co-operate with the investigation leading Sarkozy to slam the country’s judicial and police services for the release of the suspect without proper supervision.

Judges were angered by the accusation of guilt before any trial and accused Sarkozy of using the case to boost his chances of re-election next year.

Sarkozy has been dogged by controversy in recent weeks.

He had to order all ministers in his government to take their holidays in France after it emerged that Prime Minister François Fillon had taken a holiday with his family in Egypt paid for by President Hosni Mubarak’s government, according to The Telegraph.

It also emerged recently that Foreign Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie took hospitality jet whilst on holiday in Tunisia. The jet was owned a billionaire close to the country’s ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.