Jean-Christophe Mitterrand (born 19 December 1946) is the son of former French president François Mitterrand. He was an advisor to his father on
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
''Papamadit'' (which translates as "Daddy-told-me") in Africa.
Agence France Presse
Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.
AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D. ...
In the 1990s, Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, along with Russian businessman
Arcadi Gaydamak
Arcadi Aleksandrovich Gaydamak ( he, ארקדי אלכסנדרוביץ' גאידמק; russian: Аркадий Александрович Гайдамак; born 8 April 1952 in Moscow, USSR) is a Russian-born French-Israeli businessman, philanthr ...
, was implicated in the Angolagatearms dealing scandal. He was indicted in 1993 by the French justice in this case, suspected of having used his influence to help Pierre Falcone sell Russian weapons to
José Eduardo dos Santos
José Eduardo dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was the president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and president of the People's Movement for ...
's government (Angola). On 22 December 2000, he was imprisoned in the Santé prison in Paris, on orders of the magistrate
Philippe Courroye Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to:
* Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present)
* Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer
* Prince Philippe, Count ...
, on charges of "complicity of arms traffic, ''trafic d'influence'' (
influence peddling
Influence peddling is the practice of using one's influence in government or connections with authorities to obtain favours or preferential treatment for another, usually in return for payment. It is also called traffic of influence or trading i ...
) and ''trafic d'influence aggravé'' (aggravated
influence peddling
Influence peddling is the practice of using one's influence in government or connections with authorities to obtain favours or preferential treatment for another, usually in return for payment. It is also called traffic of influence or trading i ...
)." He was suspected of having received important sums of money in 1993 and 1994 for his role as an intermediary in this contract, and has recognized having received US$1.8 million (13 million Francs) from the Brenco on a
Swiss bank account
Banking in Switzerland dates to the early eighteenth century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as Culture of Switzerland, emblematic of ...
— although he denied any participation to an arms deal.
Jean-Christophe Mitterrand was freed three weeks later, on 11 January 2001, after his mother,
Danielle Mitterrand
Danielle Émilienne Isabelle Mitterrand (née Gouze; 29 October 1924 – 22 November 2011) was the wife of French President François Mitterrand, and president of the foundation France Libertés Fondation Danielle Mitterrand.Jean-Christophe Mitterrand libéré , '' L'Express'', 15 January 2001 However, he was indicted again on July 4, 2001, on charges of "complicity of arms traffic" by the magistrates Philippe Courroye and Isabelle Prévost-Desprez, following a complaint filed in January 2001 by the
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
Alain Richard
Alain Richard (, born 29 August 1945) is a French politician serving as Senator for Val-d'Oise since 2011. A member of the National Assembly for Val-d'Oise from 1978 to 1993, he was elected to the Senate in 1995 before his appointment as Minis ...
.Chronology of the Angolagate , '' L'Express'', 16 October 2002
Jean-Christophe Mitterrand was again indicted on 17 October 2001, for corruption by investigative judge Courroye, suspected of having received US$300,000 from the Brenco in payment of councils to Falcone. On the eve of this new indictment, Jean-Christophe Mitterrand filed a complaint against judge Courroye accusing him of having made a "false" document in July 2000 (because Courroye had put the date of 3 July for an ordinance drafted on 5 July) — but this manoeuver did not stop the procedure.
On 13 January 2006, the
Court of Appeal of Paris
The Court of Appeal of Paris (french: Cour d'appel de Paris) is the largest appeals court in France in terms of the number of cases brought before it. Its jurisdiction covers the departments of Paris, Essonne, Yonne, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint- ...
confirmed the initial sentence. On 27 October 2006, the
Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
rejected Mitterrand's appeal, and confirmed his 30 months prison sentence on
probation
Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration.
In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...
, along with a €600,000 fine for
tax evasion
Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...
(''fraude fiscale'') because of €600,000 received from Falcone but not declared to the Fisc tax administration.