French Culture Minister Rachida Dati and former CEO of Renault-Nissan Carlos Ghosn are heading to trial. Investigating judges decided on Tuesday, July 22, after six years of proceedings initiated by a complaint from a minority shareholder of Renault SA, to refer them to a criminal court on corruption charges, a judicial source confirmed to Le Monde. Ghosn is under several international arrest warrants and is legally barred from leaving Lebanon, where he sought refuge in December 2019 after fleeing Japan, where he was incarcerated.

In their order, in line with the indictment of France's National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) delivered in November 2024, the judges determined that Dati should appear in court for "passive corruption and influence peddling by a person holding an elected public office within an international organization (in this case, the European Parliament)" and "concealment of abuse of power and breach of trust." As for Ghosn, he is to be tried for "abuse of power by a company executive," "breach of trust" and "active corruption and influence peddling."

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