former jpk lawyer searched


a photocopy sign for a meeting of the support committee for missing journalist, jean-pascal couraud.

NEWS


Police in French Polynesia have seized documents from the offices and home of the former lawyer for long missing journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud.


The search was ordered by prosecutor Jean Bianconi after Jean-Dominique Des Arcis was questioned by investigating magistrate Jean-François Redonnet.


Radio New Zealand International reports Des Arcis was questioned two days after the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of Couraud for making conflicting statements.


RADIO EXPOSE


The search was the first fallout from a controversial expose carried by France Inter, the second most popular radio station in France, according to a report from Rue 89, a French language news website.


Among others, France Inter interviewed Des Arcis who, for the first time, declared that he did not think the disappeareance of "JPK" was suicide - contradicting earlier statements.


The family had previously declared that the lawyer had been scared off by authorities from representing JPK, a claim the lawyer had not responded to in the last three years.


BACKGROUND


At the time thought to have been a case of suicide, the disappearance of JPK is now being linked to the world's biggest banking scandal.


Clearstream was first exposed in 2001 by a French journalist and the third in charge of the clearing house - a kind of bank for banks - and wide ranging allegations including US$1.5 trillion in overstated assets.


The president of the time was sacked and rules were changed, but so far the only prosecutions have been for libel - by the Clearstream whistleblower.


PERSONAL NOTES


News of the new JPK evidence at the hearing and the subsequent request for a search of the former lawyer emerged in an update from the family of Couraud, adding more fuel to the Clearstream fire.


The family said documents seized include personal notes made by Des Arcis from the time of his representation of Couruad, as well as working papers and correspondence from the family.


The family update as follows, translated from French:


"CLARIFY"


"A search of Jean-Dominique Des Arcis


"The lawyer for Jean-Pascal Couraud was questioned by the judge Redonnet on the morning of Monday, December 17, 2007 to get him to clarify his statements relating to sensitive information held by Jean-Pascal Couraud and that could be the cause of his disappearance.


"Following that hearing, a search was conducted at the request of the prosecutor Jean Bianconi at both houses of the lawyer in Papeete and Raiatea, as well as at his offices to search for documents evoked by counsel that could concern financial movements for the benefit of Jacques Chirac.


"Among the seized documents also are personal notes on the case by the lawyer , correspondence with the family of JPK and working papers he possessed concerning the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Jean-Pascal Couraud."


OTHER LINKS


Radio New Zealand International - search results all JPK stories

Clearstream bank and Revelation$ - why is it still unpublished in English?

Dominiation of the world - blog by French journalist Denis Roberts, author of Revelation$

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An open letter to Oscar Manutahi Temaru

home

flosse - senate refuses second immunity waiver