The claims involve white slavery, sado-masochism, rapes, sex with minors, drug dealing and appalling brutality -- all in the heart of the government of one of France's most historic and most civilized cities.
The southern city of Toulouse, known as la ville rose because of its many sun-drenched Spanish-style buildings, has been scandalized by allegations that public officials protected a barbaric serial killer charged with murdering prostitutes recruited for orgies in the city's courthouse.
Though the accusations are unproved, Justice Minister Dominique Perben sacked Toulouse's prosecutor-general, Jean Volff, last week for covering up links between senior officials and the exploitation of vulnerable girls.
The allegations focus on the activities of Patrice Alegre, a convicted murderer awaiting trial for five other killings. Former prostitutes have claimed his activities were covered up.
A former mayor and three judges have come forward to give their version of events. In a TV appearance, the right-wing former mayor of Toulouse, Dominique Baudis, now head of a broadcasting watchdog, claimed he was being framed by pro-pornography lobbies who wanted to smear him for opposing the showing of X-rated material on national TV.
The three judges have also denied any involvement. They will be questioned about `acts of torture and barbaric acts, pimping and rapes of under-age girls'.
Detectives have reopened an investigation into the disappearance of 115 young women in the Toulouse area between 1986 and 1997, and are probing earlier claims that Alegre was paid to establish a prostitution network by respected local leaders.
According to various reports in the press, senior police officials covered up Alegre's role as a pimp in Toulouse.
The most startling accounts of sexual violence were given by a woman known as Patricia, 32, who went into hiding in 1992 after witnessing two murders.
She has told the examining magistrates that Alegre was in charge of recruiting prostitutes and organizing orgies. She identified men with whom she had sex at Toulouse's Palais de Justice and said sado-masochist orgies went on at a chateau owned by Toulouse council. She claimed she had witnessed the killing by Alegre of two girls he had recruited.
Another prostitute was allegedly strangled while being raped by Alegre in front of witnesses after she tried to alert police that a vice squad inspector was part of the white slave racket.
The other witness, known as Fanny, was 17 when she was forced into prostitution in 1990 after being recruited by Alegre who, for a time, worked in the police canteen.
She had also witnessed the second murder, but had kept quiet about Alegre's involvement until tracked down two years ago by a gendarmerie squad investigating the unsolved killings of prostitutes in Toulouse.
The appointment of Michel Barrau as prosecutor-general has concerned lawyers because he was credited with stopping an investigation into corruption among senior right-wing politicians in Paris before last year's general election.
Asian perspectives of the US have shifted from a country once perceived as a force of “moral legitimacy” to something akin to “a landlord seeking rent,” Singaporean Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen (黃永宏) said on the sidelines of an international security meeting. Ng said in a round-table discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Germany that assumptions undertaken in the years after the end of World War II have fundamentally changed. One example is that from the time of former US president John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address more than 60 years ago, the image of the US was of a country
‘UNUSUAL EVENT’: The Australian defense minister said that the Chinese navy task group was entitled to be where it was, but Australia would be watching it closely The Australian and New Zealand militaries were monitoring three Chinese warships moving unusually far south along Australia’s east coast on an unknown mission, officials said yesterday. The Australian government a week ago said that the warships had traveled through Southeast Asia and the Coral Sea, and were approaching northeast Australia. Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles yesterday said that the Chinese ships — the Hengyang naval frigate, the Zunyi cruiser and the Weishanhu replenishment vessel — were “off the east coast of Australia.” Defense officials did not respond to a request for comment on a Financial Times report that the task group from
BLIND COST CUTTING: A DOGE push to lay off 2,000 energy department workers resulted in hundreds of staff at a nuclear security agency being fired — then ‘unfired’ US President Donald Trump’s administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation’s nuclear weapons programs, in an about-face that has left workers confused and experts cautioning that the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE’s) blind cost cutting would put communities at risk. Three US officials who spoke to The Associated Press said up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were abruptly laid off late on Thursday, with some losing access to e-mail before they’d learned they were fired, only to try to enter their offices on Friday morning
CONFIDENT ON DEAL: ‘Ukraine wants a seat at the table, but wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since an election, the US president said US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and added that he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks. Trump increased pressure on Zelenskiy to hold elections and chided him for complaining about being frozen out of talks in Saudi Arabia. The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance toward Russia. “I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian
RSS