Former Mantes-la-Jolie Mayor Sentenced to Prison for Witness Tampering in Market Corruption Case

The verdict is in. The judges of the Versailles Court of Appeal increased the sentence to two years’ imprisonment, including one year in prison, for witness tampering, for the former mayor of Mantes-La-Jolie, Sidi El Haimer, involved in the Val-Fourré market case. "The prison sentence is to be served at home with the wearing of an electronic bracelet, according to the court’s ruling," reports Le Parisien. The judges also handed down an additional five-year ineligibility sentence against him. Disappointed, his lawyer Alexandre Simonin, who was expecting an acquittal or a reduced sentence, intends to appeal to the Supreme Court. "Today, I don’t understand, I don’t have all the strings, he says. It’s an incomprehensible, surreal decision, whose political scope can be suspected. We will appeal to the Supreme Court." Since the conviction of his client is not final, Sidi El Haimer, acting mayor from January to May 2022, following the resignation of Raphaël Cognet, will not wear a bracelet.

The former mayor of Mantes-La-Jolie is accused of having exerted "pressure" on a merchant from the Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines) market who wanted to denounce the behavior of the market managers. In March 2021, he had been indicted and placed under judicial supervision for "witness tampering" in this Val-Fourré market case. He is suspected of having had "inappropriate" behavior and of having made "threats to encourage people who were complaining about racketeering to withdraw their complaint," according to Maryvonne Caillibotte, prosecutor of the Republic of Versailles. During his trial in the first instance in November 2022, the former elected official had rejected the accusations. He claimed to have played his role as an "ever-present mediator" between a merchant and a market manager.

"My first reflex is to contact this manager to see what the problem is. I call the market manager who tells me that these accusations are false. I try to settle the problem directly and quickly. You can’t imagine how much, to the detriment of my private life, I am solicited. I receive up to 100 calls a day. Here, I have a file, I react and I move on," he had explained.