5 elements: the Michel Neyret affair
A real “shock wave” in the police force, the Michel Neyret affair is one of the most publicized police scandals in France in recent years. … return on the business in five elements.
The Man: Who is Michel Neyret?
Michel Neyret, born April 12, 1956 in Landres (Meurthe-et-Moselle), is a former senior French police officer. After studying law, obtaining a master’s degree and passing the commissary competition, he spent two years at the SRPJ in Versailles after leaving the school of Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d’Gold. Then it will be the Meaux police station before taking over as head of the Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI) of the Lyon Criminal Investigation Department. He’ll be the head of the anti-gang for twenty years. It will then take charge of the Nice Police Department (PJ) in 2004 and return to Lyon in 2007 as Deputy Director of the Interregional Police Department (DIPJ). In particular, he was head of the drug department of the Lyon criminal police and worked on numerous drug trafficking cases. At the beginning of ” The Neyret Affair “He is therefore a personality in the National Police, number two in the Lyon Criminal Investigation Department with an exceptional career, a solid reputation, revered by his teams, his superiors, a legend … Here is what we know at the time, Commissioner Neyret, he who due was awarded the Legion of Honor for his professional achievements in 2004. He, who is also nicknamed “Super Cop” because of his unorthodox methods and his closeness to the environment…

Investigation, prosecution, dismissal
Investigations began in 2010. She targets a network of drug dealers. Gilles Benichou, a Lyon crook who is also an indicator for Michel Neyret, is bugged. With these eavesdropping, everything points to the fact that: Michel Neyret and part of his professional and personal circle are corrupt and provide services to people involved in organized crime. On September 29, 2011, at 6am, Michel Neyret and his wife were arrested by the IGPN and taken into police custody by the “Police of the Police”, the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGS). On October 3, 2011, at the end of this police custody, Michel Neyret was charged and then imprisoned in the health prison. Released on May 23, 2012, he is under house arrest. On September 4, 2012, he appeared before the Paris Police Disciplinary Board, the body that requested his release. On September 7, 2012, he was dismissed by Home Secretary Manuel Valls, following advice from the Police Disciplinary Board. A retraction described by Michel Neyret’s lawyers as “ notorious to a man who served the Republic for almost thirty years and served his fellow citizens in an exemplary manner ».
complain
Charges against Michel Neyret include corruption, lobbying, association of criminals, drug trafficking, embezzlement of property and breach of professional secrecy.
He is then prosecuted, specifically with three other police officers, for passive bribery of a person holding public authority (Article 432-11 of the Criminal Code), influence trading (Article 433-2 of the Criminal Code). , association of criminals (art. 450-1 of the Penal Code), breach of professional secrecy and concealment.
The most significant penalty imposed among these offenses was ten years imprisonment.

trials and convictions
The trial of Michel Neyret took place in Paris in May 2016. On July 5, 2016, Michel Neyret, the former star of the National Police, was arrested on March 11, 2016th Chamber of the Paris Criminal Court sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment for corruption, influence activities and embezzlement of public property (he had been asked to serve a four-year prison term, including two and a half years’ imprisonment). However, he was acquitted of money laundering and criminal association charges. He was also banned from holding public office for five years. A conviction, therefore, for providing confidential information to members of the Lyon community presented as “whistle-blowers” … With in return benefits, gifts, cash … And the verdict, to then the ” heaviness “Facts against Michel Neyret, the loser” any sense of legal boundaries “. Among the three other police officers charged: Captain Jean-Paul Marty received a three-month suspended sentence for helping his superior by siphoning off drug seals. Superintendent Christophe Gavat and Commander Gilles Guillotin who are suspected of siphoning off drug seals were released as the facts were not sufficiently clarified Michel Neyret’s wife was given an eight-month suspended sentence for taking advantage of the generosity of her husband’s “friends”.
After the public prosecutor’s office appealed against this decision, the Paris Court of Appeal decided by judgment of June 12, 2018. Michel Neyret was sentenced to four years in prison, including eighteen months of probation number 2) and a permanent ban from working in the police force. Contrary to the judgment of the criminal court, the Court of Appeal also convicted him of criminal association. Favored by a sentence adjustment, Michel Neyret remained at large with an electronic bracelet for two and a half years.
Suites …
The Michel Neyret affair has tipped the scales and had a major impact on the French police world. It highlighted the links between certain police officers and the environment, as well as the illegal practices of certain law enforcement officials. It also raised questions about the effectiveness of police investigations and police training and ethics. The Michel Neyret case had a lasting impact on the French police administration, prompting the authorities to take steps to improve transparency and ethics in police practice.
And as Advocate General Michel Neyret pointed out in his damning indictment of April 10, 2018 before the Paris Court of Appeal:
“Has not only shattered his life and career, but also damaged the image of the police force” etc “created a kind of anti-model for the younger generation of civil servants”.