Judges try to search France's presidential palace

By Staff
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PARIS, May 2 (Reuters) Two judges tried to enter and search France's presidential palace today in an inquiry linked to the death of a French judge in Djibouti in 1995, a source in President Jacques Chirac's office said.

The attempted search of the Elysee Palace, the first since the Fifth Republic began in 1958, came as Chirac held his last cabinet meeting before a new president is elected on Sunday.

The judges arrived with a team of specialists and police officers but their access to the African affairs department that they were hoping to search was blocked by a police cordon.

''They were told that under article 67 of the Constitution, their request could not be granted,'' the source in Chirac's office said, adding a French president cannot be the object of an inquiry while still in office.

The Magistrates union, the USM, called the decision to refuse entry to the judges an obstruction of justice.

''Neither the president nor his office are being called into question,'' Bruno Thouzellier, USM president told Reuters.

In April, the judges visited the Foreign and Justice Ministries and took away numerous documents in connection with the case into suspected political ''pressure on the judiciary''.

Those searches went ahead despite opposition from police who feared the affair could be used in the election campaign.

The investigation was opened in March alongside the inquiry into the death of judge Bernard Borrel. The cause of his death has remained unsolved since his burned corpse was discovered in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa in 1995.

Djibouti authorities initially said Borrel, who had been working as a consultant to the country's Justice Ministry, had committed suicide, but his widow has accused high-ranking local officials of involvement in the murder of her husband.

The Borrel case is sensitive for France because Djibouti is home to the largest French military base in Africa.

French authorities last year issued arrest warrants against the Djibouti state prosecutor and the head of the country's secret services in connection with Borrel's death.

One of the magistrates looking into Borrel's death, Sophie Clement, also wanted to question Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh during a visit to Cannes in southern France for a Franco-African summit in February.

Guelleh has denied any involvement in the Borrel affair.

Under French law, as a serving head of state, he cannot be forced to testify.

REUTERS ABM RK1735

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