Olivier Besancenot - The "Besancenot Affair"

The "Besancenot Affair"

In October 2008, seven people—including the leader of the Taser France company, the two leaders of a private detective agency, two police officers, a retired police officer, a customs officer and one other person—were arrested and charged with several offences related to their having allegedly spied on Besancenot and his family, including the illicit divulging of information on his private life, the violation of professional secrecy and "fraudulent access to automated data processing systems". They were accused of having spied on them between October 2007 and January 2008. The "Besancenot affair", as it was called, received significant media attention. Libération commented, the day before the charges were confirmed: "A businessman who sells weapons to the Ministry of the Interior arrested, that's very disorderly. Particularly when he may be suspected of having had one of the most prominent politicians trailed by a private company directed by a former police officer."