BOBIGNY (AFP) – A former head of France’s foreign intelligence service will face trial for complicity in attempted extortion, after a businessman accused agents of trying to squeeze him for EUR15 million.
Bernard Bajolet, who led the DGSE spy agency from 2013 to 2017, must appear in criminal court outside Paris, a judge said in an October 23 ruling seen by AFP on Tuesday.
He will face a charge of arbitrarily infringing on individual freedom as a holder of public office.
There was “sufficient evidence” that Bajolet was involved “by giving instructions to enter into a conversation” in which it was “more than likely that pressure would be applied”, the judge found.
