Michel Roussin (born May 3, 1939 in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

) was the chief of staff of

Alexandre de Marenches Count Alexandre de Marenches (7 June 19212 June 1995) was a French military officer, a director of the SDECE French external intelligence services (6 November 1970 – 12 June 1981), special advisor to US President Ronald Reagan, and a member o ...

, who directed the SDECE French secret service until the May 1981 election of

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

as President of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Michel Roussin has also been chief of staff of

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

when he was mayor of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and also when he was prime minister. Roussin then became minister of cooperation under Edouard Balladur's government. However, he had to resign, in accordance with the so-called Balladur jurisprudence because of suspected involvement in various affairs concerning the illegal funding of Chirac's

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; RPR ), was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 a ...

(RPR) party. Jailed for a time, Roussin was afterwards acquitted. However, on October 26, 2005, he was condemned to four years of prison on probation and a 50,000 EUR fine for his role in the corruption affair concerning high schools in the Paris region. Named to the direction of

SAE International SAE International, formerly named the Society of Automotive Engineers, is a United States-based, globally active professional association and standards developing organization for engineering professionals in various industries. SAE Internatio ...

, a construction firm linked to

Paribas The Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (“Bank of Paris and the Netherlands”), generally referred to from 1982 as Paribas, was a French investment bank based in Paris. In May 2000, it merged with the Banque Nationale de Paris to form BNP Paribas. ...

bank, Roussin in 1997 followed this function with his presidency of the Africa committee of the

MEDEF The Mouvement des entreprises de France (MEDEF), or the Movement of the Enterprises of France, is the largest employer federation in France. Established in 1998, it replaced the Conseil national du patronat Français ( CNPF), or the "National Cou ...

, the French employers organization;Medef Africa program
the ''

francophonie Francophonie is the quality of speaking French. The term designates the ensemble of people, organisations and governments that share the use of French on a daily basis and as administrative language, teaching language or chosen language. The ...

'' delegation at Paris's municipal hall. He also presented himself as candidate to the presidency of the

Elf Aquitaine Elf Aquitaine is a French brand of oils and other motor products (such as brake fluids) for automobiles and trucks. Elf is a former petroleum company which merged with TotalFina to form "TotalFinaElf". The new company changed its name to Total in ...

oil company. Roussin is also allegedly a member of the

masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

Grande Loge Nationale Française The Grande Loge Nationale Française (GLNF) is a French Masonic Grand Lodge. It was founded in 1913, by two lodges, "Le Centre des Amis" Lodge splitting from Grand Orient de France and "L'Anglaise" lodge, an independent lodge based in Bordeaux. GL ...

'' (GLNF).

Timeline

*1972-76: Military commander at the

Hôtel Matignon The Hôtel Matignon or Hôtel de Matignon () is the official residence of the Prime Minister of France. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, at 57 Rue de Varenne. "Matignon" is often used as a metonym for the governmental action o ...

, residency of prime minister

. *1977-81: Chief of staff of

at the SDECE. *1983: Worked for the president of the ''

Compagnie Générale des Eaux Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, vid ...

'' *1984-86: Chief of staff of Jacques Chirac at the Paris municipal hall and then at Matignon *1993-94: Minister of cooperation under Edouard Balladur's government. *1994: Investigated in the frame of the " Jean-Claude Méry affair". He resigns from his ministerial functions, but is then acquitted. *1996: President of SAE International, a subsidiary of the

Eiffage Eiffage S.A. is a French civil engineering construction company. it was the third largest company of its type in France, and the fifth largest in Europe. History The company was formed in 1992 through the merger of several long standing com ...

group. He is charged of a special committee on Africa by the Medef's direction. *1999: Death of Jean-Claude Méry. *2000: Daily newspaper ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' publish the integral content of Jean-Claude Méry's posthumous videocassette, in which Jean-Claude Méry, member of the executive committee of the RPR party, declared having given 5 million francs in cash to Michel Roussin, then Chirac's chief of staff, "in the presence of Mr. Chirac". Investigative magistrate

Eric Halphen The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse languag ...

would convoque on these grounds president Chirac as witness in March 2001.

References

;Notes ;Sources *

François-Xavier Verschave François-Xavier Verschave (28 October 1945, in Lille – 29 June 2005, in Villeurbanne) was primarily known as one of the founders of the French NGO '' Survie'' ("Survival"), over which he presided since 1995, and as coiner of the term ''Françafr ...

, ''Noir Chirac'', Editions les Arènes (2000), chapter 10 "Michel Roussin de Paris à Rangoon via Abidjan".

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roussin, Michel 1939 births Living people People from Rabat Politicians of the French Fifth Republic French politicians convicted of corruption

Timeline

See also

References

External links