(Photo: AFP/Ludovic Marin)
French investigators searched presidential palace in graft probe
The investigation is examining why the same events company was repeatedly chosen over several years to organise Pantheon ceremonies.
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PARIS: French investigators have searched the Elysee presidential palace as part of a probe into alleged favouritism and corruption, prosecutors said Friday (May 22), after a previous attempt was refused.
The search at the official residence of French President Emmanuel Macron, carried out on Thursday, is linked to a probe into the repeated selection over several years of the same company to organise induction ceremonies at the Pantheon mausoleum, where prominent French figures are buried.
"Search operations took place on May 21 on the premises of the Elysee Palace, as part of the judicial inquiry focusing notably on the conditions under which certain public contracts relating to the organisation of Pantheon ceremonies were awarded," the financial public prosecutor's office said.
Thursday's operation was "preceded by institutional consultations to ensure they could proceed," it said.
A representative of the Elysee told AFP that the presidency had authorised the search as the procedure "does not target" Macron and that "the necessary safeguards" were in place concerning the constitution and "the secrecy of national defence".
In April, investigators had tried to search the palace but were denied access on the grounds that the constitution guarantees the "inviolability of premises attached to the presidency", financial public prosecutor Pascal Prache said at the time.
The searches are part of an investigation opened in October 2025 into suspected favouritism, corruption and influence peddling.
French weekly Le Canard Enchaine has said investigators were looking into why the events company, Shortcut Events, had for over two decades until 2024 been picked to host the induction into the Pantheon mausoleum, estimating each ceremony to cost "around 2 million euros".
The last ceremony the events company organised, according to Le Canard Enchaine, was one in 2024 to honour Missak Manouchian, a stateless Armenian poet who died fighting the Nazi occupation of France during World War II.
Before that, French-American dancer, singer, Resistance member and rights activist Josephine Baker became the first black woman to enter the Pantheon in 2021.
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