Mayor Accused of Vote-Rigging on Trial in Paris

Former Paris right-wing mayor Jean Tiberi (C) and his wife Xaviere (L), flanked by their lawyer Pierre Haïk (R), arrive at a Paris court. (Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images)

PARIS—The trial of former Paris city Mayor Jean Tiberi opened on Feb. 2, 12 years since political opponents filed their complaint against him in 1997.

The investigative newspaper Le Canard Enchaine had at that time revealed that between three and four thousand voters had been illegally registered in Paris’s prestigious Fifth district, governed by Tiberi. Further inquiries brought to light a incredibly well-organised system where such voters received encouragement and invitations to vote for Jean Tiberi, against promises of a job, a place for their child in a nursery, or a cheap apartment. It took place during at least the municipal election of 1995, and the legislative election of 1997, and is largely considered to have helped with Tiberi’s election as Paris city mayor.

Xaviere Tiberi, his wife, is also accused of participating in the fraud, along with nine other city employees. “These are all lies,” shouted Mrs Tiberi on Feb. 10 before the court, “so many lies that I would almost faint from hearing them.”

The problem for the Tiberis is that the “lies” have been acknowledged as the truth by several employees and managers in the Mayor’s office.

Testimonies heard by the Court include that of Mr Raymond Nentien, former General Secretary of the Mayor’s office, and Mr Jean-Charles Bardon, who replaced Tiberi as the district mayor when Tiberi took Paris City Hall. Both describe a system in which Xaviere Tiberi was empowered to act as she pleased.

Fake voters, they claim, have been used since the early 80s. The Mayor’s office, for instance, was maintaining voters who had moved on their register, and incorporating some voters from other districts if it was anticipated they would give their vote to Tiberi.

Jean Tiberi was Paris Mayor from 1995 to 2001, and Mayor of the 5th district (the so-called “Latin quarter” including Jardin du Luxembourg, la Sorbonne…) from 1983 till 1995, then again from 2001 until today, despite a range of accusations against him. In 1999 he was first accused of manipulating public tenders and offering free city housing to his son. His wife, during the same period, was also accused of obtaining huge salary payouts for work she never did.

Tiberi didn’t deny the existence of a system of fake voters, but claimed that he was unaware of the manipulation made on voting lists. If found guilty, Tiberi and his wife could be sentenced to up to one year in prison.