Trials of elected representatives begin: first adjournment for Louis Mussington
President Mussington was due to appear at the court in Saint Martin on Monday morning for the first in a series of hearings relating to several cases in which he is implicated. Although he was absent from the hearing, he was due to stand trial for “conflict of interest”. His lawyer requested an adjournment, arguing that there was insufficient time to prepare the defence.
The charges against him relate to the employment of five members of his family as local authority staff between 20 May 2022 and 24 August 2024. His lawyer, Maître Nicolas, pointing out that this case ultimately concerns five people and seven contracts, requested an adjournment at the start of the hearing. There were two reasons for this: the absence of Louis Mussington, who was reported to be unwell, and the late delivery of a copy of the proceedings. The defence counsel only obtained a copy on 9 September after having to travel to collect it, as his emails sent in June and July had gone unanswered.
This request was opposed by the prosecutor, Élodie Rouchouse, who argued that the President’s legal team should have responded to the error messages received following the sending of his first email on 8 June, which had been sent to the address of a person who is now retired. She believes that four weeks are sufficient to prepare a defence in such a case. As for Louis Mussington’s absence, she finds it surprising, as she saw him in the press at a ceremony on Friday evening and “he did not look ill”. Furthermore, she points out that no medical certificate has been submitted to the court. She requests a warrant to bring him before the court so that he may be tried that very day.
Maître Nicolas, who is himself unwell, presses the point: “On 9 September, when I went there, I was told that this was the correct email address and that it matched exactly the one we were asked to use when submitting the application for adjournment.” He considers it unacceptable that his client should be tried under these circumstances. The hearing was suspended for several minutes whilst the validity of the email address was checked. The prosecutor’s statement was confirmed: an error message had indeed been sent. However, the request dated 22 July had been received but not processed by the court. The court decided to adjourn the case until 11 January 2027. At the end of this curtailed hearing, the judge emphasised that the President of the Collectivité must be present on 11 January to answer the charges in open court and in the presence of journalists; otherwise, ‘the court will draw the necessary conclusions’.
The President is once again due to appear in court this Wednesday, 7 October, this time accompanied by his four vice-presidents, to answer charges of favouritism in public procurement and the misappropriation of public funds.
