FRENCH OFFICIAL DISCUSSES BORREL AFFAIR, WIDOW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 000974

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID MARR SCUL DJ FR
SUBJECT: FRENCH OFFICIAL DISCUSSES BORREL AFFAIR, WIDOW
PRESSES CLAIMS

REF: A. DJIBOUTI 106


B. DJIBOUTI 68

C. DJIBOUTI 135

Classified By: Political-Minister Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt for reaso
n 1.4 (b/d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: MFA DAS-equivalent for East Africa
Jean-Christophe Belliard informed us on February 14 that
Djibouti FM Farah's health was recovering following his
stroke but that he would remain hospitalized for several
weeks and would not be able to meet with FM Barnier on
February 17 as earlier planned. Belliard described the
Borrel affair as an "irritant," said that France's military
presence in Djibouti was not under threat, but noted Mrs.
Borrel's skill in pressing her claims regarding her husband's
death. He said that DefMin Alliot-Marie planned to visit
Djibouti and Yemen at the end of February but he could offer
no details. Mrs. Borrel continues to press her case
aggressively and has initiated legal action against the MFA
for its alleged interference in the ongoing investigation of
her husband's death. END SUMMARY.

MFA COMMENTS
--------------

2. (C) Embassy Africa watcher met February 14 with
Jean-Christophe Belliard, MFA DAS-equivalent for East Africa,
to discuss the Borrel affair (refs A and B). In response to
Africa watcher's query about Foreign Minister Farah's health
(ref C),Belliard noted that Farah had been scheduled to meet
with FM Barnier February 17 to discuss the full range of
bilateral issues. Farah's stroke, he said, had occurred at
an inopportune time. Belliard said that Farah was recovering
but was likely to be in hospital for several weeks.


3. (C) Turning to the Borrel affair, Belliard said that
Djiboutian President Guellah is convinced that France is
plotting to overthrow him and refuses to understand that the
French judiciary and media are independent. Belliard noted
that Borrel's widow was well-connected and knew how to press
her claims. Belliard described the Borrel affair as an
"irritant." In response to our question, Belliard said that
the French military presence in Djibouti was not under
threat, but allowed that during the last crisis, in April
2004, the Djiboutians, playing a "cat and mouse" game, had
prevented French forces from training with live rounds and
conducting overflights.


4. (C) Belliard informed us that Defense Minister Michele
Alliot-Marie would be visiting Djibouti (and Yemen) at the
end of February. The MFA, he noted wryly, had not been
consulted by the MOD on the trip, so he could offer no
information regarding what Alliot-Marie might say or do while
in Djibouti. Belliard said that a visit to Djibouti by a
senior French official was possible following Djibouti's
April 8 elections, but that nothing was currently planned.
Expressing frustration, Belliard said that the Borrel affair,
and Djibouti generally, were of more concern to the
Presidency than the MFA because of French military interests.
At the MFA, he said, many wondered why France maintained its
military presence in Djibouti and paid "100 times" more
attention to Djibouti than to Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BORREL CASE
-------------- --------------

5. (SBU) BACKGROUND: Bernard and Elisabeth Borrel, both
French magistrates, went to Djibouti in April 1994, when he
was assigned to help reform Djibouti's code of criminal
procedure. Bernard Borrel's immolated corpse was discovered
at the foot of a cliff 80 kms from the city of Djibouti on
October 19, 1995, after he had withdrawn money from his
French bank and purchased several liters of gasoline. Two
letters were discovered near the body, the first describing
to Elisabeth the bank transaction and the second listing his
creditors and explaining how best to sell his collection of
military medals. After a period of investigation involving
French and Djiboutian authorities, Borrel's death was ruled a
suicide, as outlined in a report of September 21, 1999, which
also referred to Elisabeth's having allegedly not been
truthful with investigators. Investigators also noted that
the topography of the site where the body was found made it
impossible for a third party to have placed the body there.


6. (SBU) BACKGROUND CONT'D: Elisabeth Borrel has
maintained that the death was not suicide but rather homicide
and has pursued the case vigorously after overcoming the
initial shock of his death. Forensic evidence supporting her
claim reportedly includes evidence suggesting that the
judge's skull was fractured and that one arm was broken,
indicating a defensive wound incurred in self-defense against
a blow by a heavy object. This evidence, she and her
supporters claim, was somehow overlooked during the autopsy
(the results of which she was not provided until much later)
and investigations following the death. Elisabeth has
reportedly been harassed as she has pressed her case over the
years, and has received anonymous and threatening letters,
one of which contained a cigarette lighter as a reminder of
the way her husband died.


7. (SBU) BACKGROUND CONT'D: Elisabeth Borrel's concerns
about the case and her determination have led to formal
judicial proceedings to investigate her husband's death, with
support from a magistrate (Sophie Clement) and Elisabeth's
attorneys and advisors. The most recent court decision,
which appears to be the immediate cause of the current
controversy over the case, took place on January 10, when the
court in Versailles ordered that Djibouti's secret service
chief, Hassan Said, testify as part of the court's
investigation. The investigation is now reportedly focused
on Hassan Said, chief prosecutor Djama Suleiman, and other
senior Djiboutian officials, involving the suborning of
perjury during earlier investigations. The perjury
accusation concerns the testimony of a former chief of
Djibouti's presidential guard unit and another witness, who
are said to be in hiding in Belgium.

8. (SBU) DJIBOUTIAN EXPULSIONS/MFA's JAN 29 STATEMENT: In
possible retaliation for the judicial order that Hassan Said
testify in the case, the Djiboutian government expelled six
French aid workers in January and on January 21 closed Radio
France Internationale's broadcast facility in Djibouti. The
MFA spokesman responded on January 29 to these events,
stating that France "noted with regret" Djibouti's decision
to expel the aid workers, who were active in the health,
education, public security, and rural development sectors.
The spokesman commented on the "excellent cooperation"
provided by Djibouti's authorities and its judicial system,
which had always demonstrated "all necessary transparency" in
working with French authorities investigating Borrel's death.


9. (SBU) MFA'S JAN 29 STATEMENT CONT'D: The spokesman
continued: "French magistrates have gone to Djibouti several
times . . . and had always benefited from the entire
cooperation of Djibouti's authorities, who had assured them
access to the necessary sites, documents, and witnesses."
Addressing speculation by the press, the spokesman added
that, regarding certain documents that had been declassified,
"contrary to what may have been written recently in certain
newspapers, nothing in these documents leads one to conclude
that there was any involvement on the part of Djiboutian
authorities." The spokesman said that "in response to the
request of Djiboutian authorities, a copy of the file
concerning the death of Judge Borrel will be provided in due
course to the justice authorities of Djibouti, in order to
permit competent authorities of that country to decide
whether to open a judicial process on this subject."
(Djiboutian justice officials on October 20, 2004, had
requested a copy of the entire French file on the case.)


10. (SBU) SYMPATHETIC PRESS: The result of the expulsions
and the MFA's statement led to several prominent and
sympathetic press reports reviving and reviewing the case and
detailing Elisabeth Borrel's efforts to have it investigated
and to overturn the ruling that her husband's death was a
suicide. The press notes that Elisabeth is now suffering
from cancer and raising the couple's two children on her own.


11. (SBU) ACTION AGAINST MFA: Apparently not satisfied
with the MFA's January 29 statement, Elisabeth Borrel filed a
judicial complaint against the MFA on February 7, accusing
the ministry of applying pressure on the judge (Sophie
Clement) overseeing the case when the MFA spokesman said that
the Borrel file would be provided to Djiboutian authorities,
in effect "short circuiting" the judicial process. A Paris
court on February 1 said that it was "evaluating the
feasibility of responding to the Djiboutian request." One of
Borrel's lawyers said that the MFA statement was
"intolerable," and the magistrate's union stated that "the
Quai d'Orsay wants to preserve good relations with Djibouti
and is striking a blow at the independence of the justice
system." The MFA did not respond directly to Borrel's
February 7 legal action but indicated that it would stand
behind its January 29 statement.


12. (SBU) JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE: On February 8, the Paris
court reviewing Djibouti's request for the Borrel case file
indicated that it would not agree to transmit the file to
Djiboutian authorities, stating that it would "evaluate what
may follow this refusal."

COMMENT
--------------

13. (C) Based on Elisabeth Borrel's commitment to this
case, the favorable attention the press is giving her, and
the French judiciary's eagerness to preserve its
independence, we do not expect that this matter will
disappear soon, however much MFA and other GOF officials may
want to downplay it and suggest that it is an "irritant" with
little effect on France's military presence in Djibouti.
While Belliard notes the Djiboutians' inability to recognize
the independent nature of the French judiciary, it would seem
that the MFA, in its January 29 statement, also did not fully
take into account the judiciary's interests and independence
when it promised to provide the Borrel file to Djibouti. Now
that the case has reached into the upper levels of the
Djiboutian government, it could, depending on Elisabeth
Borrel's and the French judiciary's next actions, begin to
become more than an "irritant." END COMMENT.
Leach