Nicolas Sarkozy menacé de mort
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: FRANCE | Le président Nicolas Sarkozy ainsi que plusieurs élus et ministres UMP, dont Rachida Dati et Michèle Alliot-Marie, ont reçu au cours des dernières semaines un courrier anonyme les menaçant de mort

Photos grâce au Figaro
Le président Nicolas Sarkozy ainsi que plusieurs élus et ministres UMP, dont Rachida Dati et Michèle Alliot-Marie, ont reçu au cours des dernières semaines un courrier anonyme les menaçant de mort, accompagné d’une balle de calibre 38 (9mm). La section antiterroriste du parquet de Paris, a-t-on appris mardi de sources judiciaires, a été saisie de l’enquête.

Le courrier, une lettre-type, consiste en deux pages dactylographiées de propos décousus, explique-t-on de sources judiciaires. Il s’adresse aux ministres, députés et sénateurs "pourvoyeurs de lois liberticides, de lois fachistes", les accuse de distiller la haine. On ignore pour le moment d’où ont été expédiées ces lettres.

Au total, dix noms de personnalités politiques sont cités dans ce courrier, dont six l’ont reçu: le senateur-maire UMP de Béziers (Hérault) Raymond Couderc, le 9 février, le président Nicolas Sarkozy, le sénateur-maire de La Canourgue (Lozère) Jacques Blanc, la ministre de l’Intérieur Michèle Alliot-Marie, la ministre de la Justice Rachida Dati la semaine dernière et le maire de Bordeaux Alain Juppé lundi. >>> AP | Mardi 03 Mars 2009

TAGES ANZEIGER: Dati erhielt mysteriösen Drohbrief mit Kugeln

Unbekannte verschicken in Frankreich eine ganze Serie von Morddrohungen an konservative Politiker. Von den Tätern fehlt noch jede Spur.

Foto von Rachida Dati dank dem Tages Anzeiger
Die jüngsten Empfänger von anonymen Drohbriefen, die mit Neun-Millimeter-Kugeln gefüllt waren: Justizministerin Rachida Dati und Innenministerin Michèle Alliot-Marie. Bisher habe man noch keine Hinweise auf die Absender, hiess es aus Justizkreisen. >>> vin/ap | Dienstag, 3. März 2009

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Rachida Dati 'to Run for Paris Mayor' Against Nicolas Sarkozy's Wishes
Photo of the glamorous Rachida Dati courtesy of Gala.fr
Rachida Dati, the embattled French justice minister, has sparked consternation in her own camp by letting it be known she intends to run for mayor of Paris, against President Nicolas Sarkozy's wishes.

The move suggests that Miss Dati, 43, whom Mr Sarkozy demoted by squeezing her out of the cabinet in exchange for a near-certain seat in the European parliament, intends to rebuild her flagging career with or without the president's support.

The glamorous single mother plans to use her hands-off post as mayor of the chic seventh arrondissement, as well as her seat on the Paris city council, as a springboard to run for mayor of the capital in 2014 – when the second mandate of Socialist Bertrand Delanoë expires.

Last month, the president gave his estranged protégée no choice but to leave her prestigious post as justice minister to take the low-profile position of No 2 on his centre-right UMP party's list for the greater Paris area in the European elections. Although she put a brave face on it, the move was widely seen as an elegant dismissal for the first person of North African descent to hold a top government post. >>> By Henry Samuel in Paris | Friday, February 13, 2009

LE PARISIEN: Rachida Dati rêve d’être maire de Paris

Pour ses collaborateurs, ce n’est plus un secret : Rachida Dati veut être maire de Paris. « La capitale en 2014, c’est un vrai objectif pour elle, confie un de ses proches. Elle a l’idée de conquérir l’Hôtel de Ville. » L’une des plus fidèles de la ministre de la Justice, sa conseillère Emmanuelle Dauvergne, confirme ce projet : « Elle veut s’investir à Paris, c’est ce qu’elle fait déjà dans le VII e arrondissement. En effet, elle m’a confié que la mairie de Paris en 2014 l’intéresse vraiment. » >>> Azzeddine Ahmed-Chaouch avec Martine Chevalet | Jeude 12 Février 2009

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Rachida Dati’s Unusual Paternity Suspect
The vivacious and glamorous Rachida Dati. Speculation of the paternity of her child, Zohra, continues. The latest suspect is the attorney-general of Qatar, Ali bin Fetais al-Marri. Photo of Rachida Dati courtesy of The Sunday Times
THE SUNDAY TIMES: A Gulf dignitary is the latest to be named as the possible father of the French minister's child

THE guessing game over the paternity of the baby girl that Rachida Dati, the French justice minister, gave birth to last month has taken an unlikely twist with a book’s claim that the father is the attorney-general of Qatar.

Ali Bin Fetais al-Marri, one of the most senior dignitaries in the Gulf state, has made no comment but joins a distinguished list of suspects. Among those who have denied being the father are Jose Maria Aznar, the conservative former prime minister of Spain, and François Sarkozy, brother of the French president.

In their book, the journalists Michaël Darmon and Yves Derai reveal that Dati, 43, the first Arab to have occupied such a senior ministerial post in France, has regularly visited Qatar – sometimes as much as three times a month – and that Marri, 44, often spends weekends in Paris.

He studied at the Sorbonne and, according to his curriculum vitae, has received the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest civilian honour, and is married. He and Dati have been seen dining together in Paris.

“He is a great Francophile who does not hesitate to use his charms to achieve his goals,” a French diplomat is quoted as saying in the book.

At a conference in Doha in April last year, Dati lavishly praised Marri, referring to “our frequent exchanges” which had helped to fight scourges such as terrorism and organised crime.

The unmarried Dati was reported to have said that “the daddy travels quite a lot” and that Zohra, born on January 2 in Paris, has his eyes.

Even so, the identity has been as closely guarded a secret as the French nuclear codes. >>> Matthew Campbell in Paris | Sunday, February 8, 2009

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Sarko Bullies Dati
Photo of the lady in red courtesy of the Mail Online
MAIL Online: Nicolas Sarkozy reduced his glamorous justice minister to tears when he sacked her three weeks after she gave birth, it was claimed yesterday.

France's president is said to have bullied Rachida Dati into quitting the cabinet to run for a seat as an MEP.

Mr Sarkozy is said to have told her: 'If you want to remain my friend then you have no choice.

'Either you leave with nothing, or you leave to become an MEP. It's up to you.'

Canard Enchaine, a satirical newspaper, said: 'The whole conversation reduced Miss Dati to a flood of tears. French Single-mum Minister Steps Out in Defiant Red After Claims She 'Collapsed in Tears' When Sarkozy Sacked Her >>> By Ian Sparks | Thursday, January 29, 2009

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Rachida Dati Remains Loyal to Nicolas Sarkozy Despite Losing Cabinet Post
THE TELEGRAPH: Rachida Dati, France's justice minister, on Sunday remained loyal to President Nicolas Sarkozy, saying it was her job to "go out into the field" in her first public reaction since losing her cabinet post to run for the European parliament.

While the move for France's first top-level minister of North African origin from the cabinet to Strasbourg was widely seen as a humiliating step down, Miss Dati remained stoically upbeat.

"A female or male politician's career isn't about owning a mandate or being nominated to a post; it's about going out into the field convince [people] about our ideas," said the 43-year old single mother.

In a leadership gathering of Mr Sarkozy's ruling UMP – where he anointed the party's new leader, Xavier Bertrand - the president made it plain that his former protégée should be thankful that her departure was not more brutal.

"The life of a government is made of departures and returns. I myself have been through it in far less amicable conditions that [sic] those reserved for you," he said to a stony-faced Miss Dati. >>> By Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, January 26, 2009

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Rachida Dati: Eleganter Absprung
Foto von Rachida Dati dank Gala
ZEIT ONLINE: Frankreichs prominente Justizministerin verlässt das Kabinett Sarkozy und kandidiert nun für das Europaparlament. Ihre Probleme im Amt wurden am Ende einfach zu groß

Rachida Dati, eine der beliebtesten Politikerinnen in Frankreich, wird für das Europaparlament kandidieren und mit dieser Begründung im Frühjahr ihr Amt als Justizministerin abgeben. Das jedenfalls schreibt der Figaro, wegen seiner Regierungsnähe meistens (wenn auch nicht immer) bestens über Personalangelegenheiten der Politik informiert. Damit würde Dati etliche ihrer Probleme lösen.

Zunächst einmal dasjenige einer problematischen Amtsführung. Mit gleich mehreren Justizreformen auf einmal beauftragt, zu denen auch die Auflösung lokaler Gerichte gehörte, erschwerte sie sich ihre Aufgabe dadurch, dass sie als Methode nicht den Dialog, sondern das Durchstellen von oben nach unten wählte. Der so erzeugte Unmut sowie der Zorn jener, die Einfluss zu verlieren hatten, verbanden sich mit männlichem Hochmut ihrer Umgebung und der Verachtung hoher Beamter, für die Dati eine Dahergelaufene, ein Produkt des Sarkozyismus ist.

Aus einer maghrebinischen Familie mit elf Kindern stammend, hatte sie ihre wenig prestigeträchtigen Studien (die sie zu allem Überfluss später auch noch in ihrem Lebenslauf aufzuwerten versuchte) mit Studentenjobs finanziert. Nicht ein großartiges Diplom - Fetisch der französischen Aufstiegsideologie - hatte ihr den Eintritt in die obersten Sphären der Politik verschafft, sondern das enge Verhältnis zu Nicholas und Cécilia Sarkozy. Dati hatte 2007 den Präsidentschaftswahlkampf Sarkozys als Ausweis seiner Bereitschaft bereichert, die Politik des Landes mit einer Mannschaft aufzurollen, die - wie er selbst - nicht dem Establishment entstammt. >>> Von Gero Von Randow, Paris | Freitag, 23. Januar 2009

THE INDEPENDENT: Sealed with a Kiss, the Demise of Dati

Photo of Rachida Dati and Carla Bruni courtesy of The Independent
The French Justice Minister Rachida Dati, who returned to work five days after giving birth this month, has been banished by President Nicolas Sarkozy into the "internal exile" of the European Parliament.

Mme Dati, 43, will retain her job until May but has agreed to stand down to become deputy leader of the ruling party's campaign in the greater Paris area for the European elections in June.

Although officially presented as a new, democratic and European adventure for Mme Dati, the decision amounts to a serious demotion for a woman catapulted into high office 20 months ago as a symbol of President Sarkozy's drive to "open up" French public life to women and minorities.

Mme Dati, a daughter of poor Algerian and Moroccan immigrants, is said to have begged the President to remain in her senior ministerial job, or at least national politics. According to one version of events, she won only a vague promise that she would be brought back into government, in another post, some time in the future.

Although initially a confidante of M. Sarkozy and a close friend of his ex-wife, Cécilia, Mme Dati's standing in the presidential "court" has plummeted in the past 15 months. The abrupt departure of the second Mme Sarkozy in October 2007 weakened her link to the President. Her campaign to rationalise the French courts was resisted by judges and lawyers who accused her of being high-handed and insensitive.

Her glamorous lifestyle and emergence as a "celeb" in glossy magazines, irritated M. Sarkozy. Worse, Mme Dati has an awkward relationship with the President's influential third wife. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy once revealed she had teased Mme Dati by pointing to the presidential bed at the Elysée Palace and saying: "You would have liked to have climbed in there, wouldn't you?" >>> By John Lichfield in Paris | Saturday, January 24, 2009

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Frankreichs umstrittene Justizministerin tritt ab
Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
TAGES ANZEIGER: Rachida Dati will ihr Regierungsamt abgeben. Die 43-Jährige hat neue politische Pläne und kandidiert bei den Europawahlen. >>> (vin / sda) | Freitag, 23. Januar 2009

WELT ONLINE: Sarkozy schiebt Rachida Dati nach Brüssel ab

Die viel gescholtene französische Glamour-Ministerin Dati kandidiert offenbar für die Europawahl im kommenden Sommer und gibt ihr Regierungsamt auf. Zu groß ist der Ansehensverlust der einstigen Vorzeigefrau in Frankreichs Kabinett – und das nicht nur wegen ihrer rekordverdächtig kurzen Babypause.

Die umstrittene französische Justizministerin Rachida Dati wird wahrscheinlich in Kürze ihr Amt aufgeben, um für die Europawahl im Juni für die Regierungspartei UMP zu kandidieren. Dies berichtete die französische Zeitung "Le Figaro". Der französische Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy hätte damit doch noch sein Ziel erreicht, eine Ministerin loszuwerden, die in den vergangenen Monaten zunehmend zu einer Belastung für seine Regierung geworden war. Vor kurzem hatte Dati das Angebot, Spitzenkandidatin der UMP bei den Europawahlen für die Region Ile de France zu werden, noch abgelehnt. Nun akzeptiert sie den zweiten Listenplatz. Angeführt wird die UMP bei der Europawahl inzwischen vom bisherigen Landwirtschaftsminister Michel Barnier. >>> Von Sascha Lehnartz | Freitag, 23. Januar 2009

leJDD.fr: Dati quitterait le gouvernement

Selon plusieurs sources concordantes, Rachida Dati a finalement accepté, jeudi, de s'engager dans la dans la bataille des Européennes, où elle figurera en deuxième position de la liste UMP conduite en Ile-de-France par Michel Barnier. Conséquence de ce choix, voulu par l'Elysée, la ministre de la Justice devrait quitter le gouvernement, sans doute courant mai.

L'Elysée aurait obtenu gain de cause, Rachida Dati devrait quitter son poste de ministre de la Justice. Maintes fois annoncé, au gré notamment de chaque remaniement ministériel, le départ de la locataire de la place Vendôme résulterait d'un jeu de vases communicants. Pas forcément emballée par ce choix, - elle avait notamment décliné une première offre de l'Elysée - Rachida Dati a finalement accepté de prendre place en deuxième position sur la liste UMP pour les élections européennes en Ile-de-France. Cette liste sera conduite par Michel Barnier, l'actuel ministre de l'Agriculture, dont les services ont fait savoir qu'il démissionnera du gouvernement courant mai. Il y a fort à parier que, du côté de la Chancellerie, sa consoeur fasse ses cartons au même moment (ou peut-être un peu plsu tard). On devrait en savoir davantage samedi. Dans le cadre de son Conseil national, l'UMP, qui intronisera officiellement Xavier Bertrand à sa tête, dévoilera ses têtes de listes pour le scrutin européen du 7 juin prochain. >>> Par N.M (avec Reuters) | Vendredi 23 Janvier 2009

BBC: France's Dati to Quit Government

French Justice Minister Rachida Dati, the first politician of North African origin to hold a senior cabinet post in France, is stepping down.

Ms Dati, 43, has attracted criticism for her management style and gossip about her clothes and love life.

She is to run for the ruling UMP party in the June European elections.

President Nicolas Sarkozy did not explain why she was quitting, but made it clear that she could not stay in the cabinet if she became a Euro MP.

While her move has been confirmed by the UMP, Ms Dati herself has not yet commented on it. >>> | Friday, January 23, 2009

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Frankreich: Haftstrafen für Zwölfjährige
DIE PRESSE: Während die Straf-Fälligkeit generell zurückgehe, nehme die Delinquenz der Jugendlichen weiter zu. Die Justizministerin plant deswegen nun härteres Jugend-Strafrecht.

PARIS (r.b.). Für jugendliche Straftäter soll es in Frankreich künftig kein Pardon mehr geben: Gerichte sollen auch erst Zwölfjährige – bei schweren Delikten – zu mehrjährigen Haftstrafen verurteilen können. So jedenfalls lautet einer von 70 Vorschlägen einer Expertenkommission, die sich im Auftrag von Justizministerin Rachida Dati mit der Revision des Jugendstrafrechts befasst hat. Nötig wäre dafür eine Senkung der Strafmündigkeit von 13 auf zwölf Jahre.

Viele Franzosen zeigen sich ob der angedachten Strafrechtsänderung schockiert, Dati rechtfertigt den Bedarf nach einer Neufassung mit dramatischen Zahlen: So würden 204.000 Minderjährige schwerer Straftaten beschuldigt, sagt sie in einer Fernseh-Talkshow. Darunter seien „Vergewaltiger, Entführer, Drogendealer, Brandstifter“. Und während die Straffälligkeit generell zurückgehe, nehme die Delinquenz der Jugendlichen weiter zu. >>> | 3. Dezember 2008

LE FIGARO: Fillon enterre le projet d'incarcération dès 12 ans

Le premier ministre a désavoué Rachida Dati vendredi, en se disant «totalement hostile» à la prison pour les mineurs de 12 ans.

La réforme de la justice des mineurs se complique pour Rachida Dati qui va devoir composer avec les réserves de François Fillon. Le premier ministre s'est déclaré vendredi «totalement hostile» à l'emprisonnement des mineurs de moins de 12 ans et a assuré que «son gouvernement n'avait aucun projet dans ce domaine». La position du chef de Matignon sur la mesure phare du rapport Varinard le passage de la responsabilité pénale à 12 ans- diverge nettement de celle de la ministre de la justice. Mercredi, Rachida Dati avait soutenu que «sanctionner pénalement les enfants dès 12 ans relevait du bon sens». Si «sanctionner ne veut pas dire emprisonner, les juges pour mineurs doivent pouvoir disposer d'une palette de réponses adaptées qui vont jusqu'à l'incarcération», avait-elle ajouté.

Toutefois, Rachida Dati rejoignait la commission Varinard sur le caractère exceptionnel de la mise en prison d'un jeune dès 12 ans. Le président de la commission André Varinard préconisait ainsi dans son rapport «l'impossibilité d'incarcérer un mineur de moins de 14 ans sauf en matière criminelle». Des garde-fous insuffisants apparemment pour le premier ministre. «Il y a d'autres solutions pour traiter y compris les cas les plus extrêmes de violences concernant les enfants de 12 ans», a défendu vendredi François Fillon. >>> C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Vendredi 05 Décembre 2008

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Frankreich: Die Ring-Affäre der umstrittenen Ministerin Dati
Foto von Rachida Dati, Frankreichs Justizministerin, dank der Welt
WELT ONLINE: Frankreichs Justizministerin Rachida Dati wird für Nicolas Sarkozy zunehmend zum Problem. Sie begeht einen handwerklichen Fehler nach dem anderen und stößt mit ihrem Strafrechtsreformvorhaben auf scharfe Kritik. Ihr momentan größtes Problem ist jedoch ein diamantenbesetzter Ring.

Und dann auch noch die Geschichte mit dem Ring. Als hätte Rachida Dati nicht genug um die Ohren. Am vorigen Mittwoch veröffentlichte die Zeitung „Le Figaro“ ein Interview mit Frankreichs Justizministerin. Unter Druck geraten, nachdem 534 Staatsanwälte in einer Petition ihre Strafrechtsreformvorhaben als „unzusammenhängend“ kritisiert hatten, verteidigte die Ministerin ihre Pläne kühl.

Doch dafür interessierte sich kurz danach kaum noch jemand. Stattdessen sprachen alle nur noch über den Ring: Der „Figaro“ hatte das Interview mit einem Foto von Dati illustriert, das ein Fotograf des Blattes im Juni während einer Sitzung im Senat aufgenommen hatte. In der nun veröffentlichten Version fehlt allerdings ein kleines Detail, das auf dem Originalfoto deutlich zu sehen ist: ein 16.000 Euro teurer diamantenbesetzter Ring, Modell „Leins“ (Bindungen) aus dem Juwelierhaus Chaumet.

Die Fotoredaktion des „Figaro“ hatte kurzerhand entschieden, das edle Schmuckstück wegzuretouchieren. Man habe nicht gewollt, dass „der Ring Gegenstand einer Polemik wird, obwohl das eigentliche Thema die Beschwerde der Magistrate ist“, rechtfertigte sich die Chefin der Bildredaktion des Blattes. Doch nachdem herauskam, dass das Foto manipuliert worden war, entstand genau die Diskussion, die das Blatt der Ministerin ersparen wollte. Dem „Figaro“ blieb nur noch übrig zu beteuern, Dati habe mit dieser redaktionellen Entscheidung „nichts zu tun“ gehabt.

Die Ringaffäre traf Dati am Ende einer Woche, in der die 42 Jahre alte Tochter eines Marokkaners und eine Algerierin unter Beschuss stand wie selten zuvor in ihrer blitzartig verlaufenden politischen Karriere. Die erste Muslimin im Ministeramt, Frankreichs Antwort auf Barack Obama, sei vom „Emblem zum Problem“ für die Regierung Sarkozy geworden, schrieb das Magazin „Express“, und der „Parisien“ ist sich bereits sicher: „C'est fini.“ Die Geduld des Staatschefs mit dem Liebling der Glamourpostillen sei zu Ende, nachdem diese einen handwerklichen Fehler nach dem anderen begehe. >>> Von Sascha Lehnartz | 23. November 2008

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Glamorous French Minister Rachida Dati Faces Sack
Photo of Rachida Dati courtesy of Gala.fr
THE TELEGRAPH: France's glamorous cabinet minister Rachida Dati could be ousted in a government reshuffle, amid complaints over her high-handed manner, authoritarianism and political inexperience.

France's judges and prison staff are no longer on speaking terms with Miss Dati, 42, the justice minister and France's first top cabinet member of North African origin.

Such is their fury against her methods that President Nicolas Sarkozy was obliged to step in personally to quell tensions, meeting the country's main magistrate's union at the Elysée palace.

The USM union said it was "satisfied" by Mr Sarkozy's reassurances but that it would not have to see whether there was any change in his protégé's "behaviour". "She is in systematic denial of all problems posed," said its president.

Elisabeth Guigou, a former Socialist justice minister, said that Mr Sarkozy's personal intervention was a "disavowal" of Miss Dati.
Mr Sarkozy has reportedly transferred much of her power to his own judicial adviser at the Elysée, Patrick Ouart.

Prison staff have threatened to block the country's jails after the Miss Dati suspended three guards following the murder of a prisoner by another inmate. She then failed to show up to an emergency meeting to discuss how to tackle exploding prison populations and record suicide rates among inmates – already 90 this year.

"The prison system is in its death throes and the Minister does not see it," they said. "If this goes on, there's going to be an explosion," they added. >>> By Henry Samuel in Paris | October 28, 2008

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Frankreichs Richter mobilisieren gegen Justizministerin: Hunderte demonstrieren in Paris
NZZ Online: Frankreichs Justizministerin Rachida Dati gerät wegen angeblich übertriebener Selbstdarstellung und mangelnder Kompetenz zunehmend unter Druck. Die Richtergewerkschaften riefen am Donnerstag zu einem landesweiten Aktionstag gegen die Ministerin auf.

In Paris demonstrierten mehrere Hundert Richter und Rechtsanwälte in ihren Roben vor dem Justizministerium. Auf Transparenten forderten sie «Respekt für die Justiz».

Ein ehemaliger Berater der Ministerin sagte der Zeitung «Libération» vom Donnerstag, Dati sei «mehr daran interessiert, auf Zeitschriftentiteln zu erscheinen, als daran, sich in ihre Themen einzuarbeiten». >>> sda/dpa | 24. Oktober 2008

LE POINT: La fronde des magistrats met Rachida Dati sous haute pression

"Les magistrats ont des états d'âme parce qu'ils veulent être reconnus, entendus." La phrase a été lâchée mercredi à Bordeaux par Rachida Dati. Justement pour être "reconnue" et "entendue", la profession, à l'appel de l'Union syndicale des magistrats (USM, syndicat majoritaire) et du Syndicat de la magistrature (SM) organisait jeudi une grande journée d'action nationale contre la politique de la garde des Sceaux.

Plusieurs milliers de magistrats, rejoints par des avocats, se sont ainsi rassemblés en milieu de journée sur les marches de plusieurs palais de justice. A Paris, robes noires et robes rouges, hermine et décorations en évidence, ils se sont pressés sous des banderoles et affichettes demandant "respect pour la justice" ou clamant "justice bafouée, démocratie en danger". "Je suis là pour montrer que le pouvoir judiciaire est bafoué par la Chancellerie. La démocratie est en danger", a expliqué Françoise Froment, présidente de chambre et membre du SM. "La justice spectacle n'est pas la justice de la société", protestait quant à lui l'avocat pénaliste Benoît Chabert. >>> Par Charlotte Chaffanjon (avec agence) | 23/24.10.2008

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The Muslim French Justice Minister Rachida Dati at Yad Vashem
EUROPEAN JEWISH PRESS (EJP): JERUSALEM---As part of a 3-day official visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, French Justice Minister Rachida Dati went to the Western Wall and toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem on Sunday.

At Yad Vashem, Dati laid a wreath at the Hall of Remembrance, visited the Hall of Names and the Children's Memorial before signing the guestbook. French Justice Minister Rachida Dati at Yad Vashem >>> By John Milner | September 21, 2008

EUROPEAN JEWISH PRESS (EJP):
Auschwitz Album in Farsi Uploaded to Yad Vashem Persian Website: JERUSALEM---A new online exhibit of the Auschwitz Album, the only surviving visual evidence of the process of mass murder at Auschwitz-Birkena [u], has been uploaded to Yad Vashem’s Persian website. >>> By John Milner | September 24, 2008

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Rachida Dati Keeps Mum on Father
Photo of Rachida Dati courtesy of Google Images
SUNDAY HERALD: EUROPE'S PRESS HAS LAUNCHED ITSELF into a coy game of hunt-the-father after the revelation that France's justice minister Rachida Dati, a single woman and a Muslim, is expecting a baby. Dati, a petite 42-year-old who is a devoted ally of President Nicolas Sarkozy, confirmed on Wednesday what her shape was making it impossible to hide, telling journalists that the pregnancy was a source of huge personal happiness. But she quickly scotched any attempt to discover the paternity, saying only that: "I have a complicated private life. I will not be communicating further on this matter."

French newspapers and broadcast media have tied themselves in contortions trying to reconcile their legal duty not to pry into a minister's private life with the enormous public interest in so fascinating a human tale. For the most part this has meant using their internet sites to report "factually" the gossip being purveyed by more salacious non-French media - thus simultaneously stoking the story and keeping a prudent distance.

The names of several candidates have been aired, including Dominique Desseigne, head of a casino and hotel empire; Henri Proglio, CEO of Veolia Environment; and a popular French television presenter known simply as Arthur. Bizarrely, one Moroccan internet site cited the former Spanish prime ministerJose-Maria Aznar as Dati's lover. Aznar promptly issued a denial, but not before his name had been circulated around the world.

Other sites even suggested artifical insemination. The truth is, though, that no-one outside of Dati's immediate circle knows who is the baby's father, and as she seems bent on remaining unattached, the secret appears secure.

The tittle-tattle over paternity has obscured the more important aspect of the affair, which is surely Dati's determination to push back the limits on what Muslim women may or may not publicly achieve in France. Born in 1965 to a Moroccan bricklayer father and an Algerian mother, Dati was brought up in a high-immigration banlieue in the Burgundy town of Chalons-sur-Saône.

She is the second in a family of 11 children, and two of her brothers have recently been in trouble with the law. Driven by an indomitable urge to prove herself above her unpromising origins, she became an accountant and then a magistrate before being talent-spotted by Sarkozy, who saw in her the embodiment of his ideal of the striving outsider.

According to a profile in Le Point magazine this week, "Sarkozy recognised himself in the courage, the nerve, the self-assurance of this child of immigrants. As she herself has said, There's something in me that creates an echo in him, a kind of mirror effect. Like me, he cannot stand humiliation'." Defiant Muslim Minister Keeping Mum on Father: Tough privacy laws make life difficult for media fascinated by Rachida Dati’s story. >>> From Hugh Schofield in Paris | September 7, 2008

THE AGE:
In Paris, Polly's Baby Is a Private Affair >>> By William Langley, Paris | September 8. 2008

THE OBSERVER:
The mother of all intrigues: With the announcement of her pregnancy by an unnamed man, France's sharp and ambitious justice minister has given the nation what it loves best: the chance to laugh at its prurient, prudish Anglo-Saxon neighbours >>> By Jason Burke | September 7. 2008

AFRICAN PATH:
France : Sarkozy’s Former Lover Rachida Dati, Is Pregnant >>> By Elie B Smith | September 5, 2008

GALA.fr:
Au jeu du Cluedo de la paternité, l'Europe s'en donne à coeur joie! : C'est le nouveau feuilleton Harlequin de la fin d'été: qui est donc le père de l'enfant que porte Rachida Dati? Depuis que José Maria Aznar a démenti cette paternité, les médias européens se perdent en conjectures...

Il s'agit là d'une nouvelle version du Cluedo. Le but n'est pas de trouver l'assassin mais le géniteur. Qui, où et avec quelles armes de séduction? Depuis que le ventre rond de Rachida Dati a émergé de ses pantalons en flanelle, une partie de l'Europe se réveille avec la même question lancinante et aujourd'hui encore sans réponse: qui donc a fait un enfant à notre ministre de la Justice? 


Un homme du monde de la politique, des affaires, du show-biz? Toutes les spéculations sont les bienvenues. Le premier suspect dans cette affaire était l'ancien chef du gouvernement espagnol, José Maria Aznar, mais ce dernier vient de démentir la rumeur lancée par un journal marocain (José Maria Aznar nie être le père de l'enfant de Rachida Dati). Non, il n'est pas le père de Rachida Junior. Il a tout de même fallu un démenti officiel tandis que le site du journal marocain L'Observateur maintient son information. Mauvais joueur! >>> | Jeudi 4 septembre 2008

Lire sa bio >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché) >>>
The Dawning of a new Dark Age (Relié) >>>

The Muslim, French Minister Rachida Dati’s Pregnancy Scandal
Watch video: High profile justice minister Rachida Dati confirmed she is expecting but refused to reveal the name of the father >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Canada) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Canada) >>>

Rachida Dati Is Pregnant; But Won’t Name the Father! Allah Will Not Be Best Pleased! It Must Have Happened Because She Doesn’t Wear the Burqah!
NEWS.COM.AU: FRENCH Justice Minister Rachida Dati, one of the stars of President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet, has announced she is pregnant - but won't say who the father is.

The divorced daughter of North African immigrants, 42-year-old Dati has become the public face of President Sarkozy's drive to add some much-needed diversity to French politics.

Since taking office last year, she has appeared almost as often in the glossy magazines as the serious political press, prompting criticism that she is seeking celebrity status rather than concentrating on her job.

On Wednesday, she confirmed rumours that she was pregnant after the weekly magazine VSD splashed her on the front page saying she was expecting a child.

Being a single mother carries no social stigma in modern France and a census released earlier this year showed that for the first time in 2006 more children were born out of wedlock here than to married couples.

"I want to remain prudent, because it isn't yet safe. I'm still in the danger zone," the website of Le Monde daily quoted Ms Dati as saying, referring to the risk of a possible miscarriage.

"I am 42 years old and have always said that (having a child) was fundamental for me," she said. "If it goes ahead, I will be happy and have the feeling I've looped the loop."

Ms Dati is photographed alone when she goes out for evening parties.

"My private life is complicated and I'm keeping it off-limits to the press. I won't say anything about it," she told reporters when asked about the father. MP Pregnant – But Won’t Name the Daddy >>> By Crispian Balmer in Paris | September 3, 2008

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE:
Aznar dément être le père de l'enfant de Rachida Dati: L'ancien chef du gouvernement espagnol est en colère: il évoque même de possibles suites judiciaires >>> Agences | 4.9.2008

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH:
Rachida Dati: French Justice Minister Who Refuses to Name the Father of Her Unborn Child: The justice minister refuses to name the man by whom she is pregnant, but the affair makes it harder to defend France's custom that politicians' private lives are private, writes William Langley.
…

Rachida was born in Chalon-sur-Saône, the second of 11 children of a Moroccan father and Algerian mother.

Staunchly secular, she has described herself as "a French woman of French origin", and her prickly relationship with the country's large Muslim population has not been improved by news of her pregnancy.

"It is difficult for Rachida," says Hoffenberg, "because she has been held up as a role model for Muslim girls, and now we have Muslims denouncing her. Most people in France aren't shocked by an unmarried minister getting pregnant. The only real protests have come from her own community, and that must be hard for her."

Dati's wariness of religious dogma is founded on personal experience. In her early twenties, during a visit to the Maghreb, she married a young Algerian – "to please my family" as she put it in a memoir last year.

Arriving back in France, she discovered that not only did she have nothing in common with her husband, she had, effectively, signed the ownership of her life over to him. It took her four years to gain an annulment, by which time she was rising fast as an accountant and business consultant. >>> By William Langley | September 6, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché) >>>
The Dawning of a new Dark Age (Relié) >>>

France: Muslim Graves Desecrated
REUTERS: LILLE, France (Reuters) - Vandals desecrated 148 graves in the Muslim section of a military cemetery in northern France, hanging a pig's head on one of the headstones, police said on Sunday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the attack "a hateful act" and around 100 police were sent to the Notre-Dame de Lorette cemetery near Arras to hunt for clues.

State prosecutor Jean-Pierre Valensi said the vandals struck overnight, daubing insults on the graves.

"They directly referred to Islam and there were also insults directed at the justice minister," Valensi said, referring to Rachida Dati, whose parents came from North Africa.

The desecration came almost exactly a year after youths daubed Nazi inscriptions and swastikas on Muslim tombs in the same cemetery in Ablain Saint-Nazaire.

France's political class united in denouncing the vandalism. Muslim Graves Desecrated in World War I Cemetery >>> | April 6, 2008

LE MONDE:
Nouvelle profanation de tombes musulmanes au cimetière militaire Notre-Dame de Lorette

WELTONLINE:
Gräber muslimischer Soldaten gesschändet: Auf einem Friedhof in Nordfrankreich sollen gefallene Soldaten in Ehre ruhen. Doch fast 150 Grabstätten muslimischer Soldaten wurden jetzt geschändet. Sogar einen Schweinekopf hängten die Täter an eines der Gräber. Der Hass richtete sich auch gegen ein Mitglied des Kabinetts [Rachida Dati].


Mark Alexander

“Dictatorial” Rachida Dati, France’s First Muslim Minister, Struggles Amid Whiffs of the Unsavoury

Photo of Rachida Dati courtesy of The Times

TIMESONLINE: Rachida Dati, the Justice Minister who was hailed as a star of the new French Government, is battling to salvage her reputation after only weeks in office. President Sarkozy has rushed to her rescue after four of her most senior aides resigned, and it emerged that her brother is to appear in court today on drug-dealing charges.

Anti-race campaigners also backed Ms Dati, 41, a Muslim and an icon of the “Sarkozy revolution”, yesterday, saying that she was the victim of jealousy among France’s white ruling elite. Unnamed officials had complained in the media that they could not handle the dictatorial character of Ms Dati, the daughter of an Algerian workman and a Moroccan housewife.

Three times in the past five days Mr Sarkozy has given emotional public support to Ms Dati, a former aide, whose appointment was regarded as a master stroke to counter his image as an intolerant rightwinger. No nonwhite had ever held a senior Cabinet post in any government, let alone a woman from the poor ethnic estates. Sarkozy’s star minister flounders (more) By Charles Bremner in Paris

Mark Alexander

«Un évènement privé» pour Michel Dobkine

Photo de Rachida Dati grâce au Figaro

LE FIGARO: Michel Dobkine évoque des «raisons privées» et dément les informations de presse parlant de mauvaises relations avec la ministre.

Le directeur de cabinet de Rachida Dati a confirmé samedi matin qu’il quittait ses fonctions. A 52 ans, Michel Dobkine, ancien directeur de l’Ecole nationale de la magistrature évoque «un évènement privé» pour expliquer son départ. «Pour ce travail, il fallait être là à 100%. Or, j'étais là à 85%», a-t-il expliqué à son cabinet.

Selon des proches, le magistrat doit prochainement se remarier. Sa fonction, peu compatible avec «une vie de famille normale», aurait «généré des tensions», explique son entourage. Une raison sensiblement différentes de celles avancées samedi par l’Est Républicain et la radio France Info. Selon ces médias, ce sont bien des désaccords répétés avec Rachida Dati qui seraient à l’origine du départ de Dobkine. Le directeur de cabinet de Rachida Dati démissionne (suivant)

Mark Alexander