Mitterrand son is not deterred by jail threat

Published on Saturday 7 November 2009 19:03

DISGRACED by a criminal conviction in a trial centred on arms sales to Angola when it was at war, the son of former French president François Mitterrand still sees a future for himself doing business in Africa.

Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, who as his late father's Africa adviser was once at the heart of influential networks, was last week handed a two-year suspended jail sentence and fined ?375,000 for his role in the "Angolagate" case.

He was among French celebrities convicted of crimes related to $790 million in arms sales to Angolan president Eduardo dos Santos's MPLA between 1993 and 1998, when it was fighting Unita rebels in a devastating civil war.

Mitterrand was cleared of the accusation of illegal weapons sales, but the court found him guilty of taking a total of $2.6 million in covert payments from arms trader Pierre Falcone to pass on key Angolan contacts and protect Falcone's interests.

In an interview published on Saturday by the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, Mitterrand, 62, said he would not appeal against his conviction because he was exhausted after nine years of judicial procedures. "I want to turn the page," he said.

The suspended jail sentence means he will not have to serve time behind bars unless he commits another offence. Nicknamed "Papamadit" or "Daddy told me" in his heyday, when he piloted French business and political deals in Africa from his office inside the presidential Elyse palace, Mitterrand said he wanted to bounce back professionally.

"I am going to try and resume my activities as a consultant in Africa. Africa represents 40 years of my life," he said. He also mentioned that he would be interested in doing business in oil or construction in China.

The judges in the Angolagate trial wrote that Mitterrand's statements that the payments he took from Falcone were fees for geopolitical analyses were "totally lacking in credibility". In the interview Mitterrand painted a dismal picture of his own life. "I am totally dependent on my family, which at almost 63 years old is not very impressive. I still live with my mother."