Manuel Valls appeared before the Bouches-du-Rhône Special Assize Court on Tuesday, June 9, as part of the trial for the double murder in Bastia-Poretta. The former Minister of the Interior and Prime Minister was summoned as a witness at the request of the defense for Christophe Guazzelli, the main defendant in the case. His presence at the Aix-en-Provence courthouse marked an unusual day of hearings, as the politician came to testify about his knowledge of the Corsican case and the island's criminal organizations.
A witness called by the defense
In court, Manuel Valls presented himself as an expert on Corsica, recalling that he was among the first political figures to publicly use the term "mafia system" to describe the island's situation during his time at the Ministry of the Interior between 2012 and 2014. He described structured organizations that had infiltrated various sectors of Corsican society. When questioned about the possibility that members of Corsican criminal groups might have benefited from protection within the state apparatus, the former Prime Minister offered a nuanced and ambiguous response.
Statements that raise questions
His statements fueled the debates at this hearing devoted to a sensitive legal case. The defense's summons of Manuel Valls as a witness demonstrates the determination of Christophe Guazzelli's lawyers to shed light on the context of this double murder. The former head of government thus offered his political and institutional analysis of the ramifications of Corsican organized crime, a theme that had been central to his work during his years in power between 2012 and 2016.
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