Trial in France of Rachida Dati and Carlos Ghosn to take place in September 2026

BEIRUT — The trial in France of Rachida Dati, the current resigning minister of culture in France, and Carlos Ghosn, former head of Renault-Nissan, for corruption and influence peddling, among other charges, is due to take place from Sept. 16 to 28, 2026, a Paris court decided on Monday. The criminal trial will be held six months after the municipal election in which Dati, 59, a candidate in Paris for the right-wing party The Republicans, is set to participate.

Ghosn, 71, who holds Lebanese, French, and Brazilian citizenship, has been in Lebanon since the end of 2019 after a dramatic escape from Japan. Since April 2023, he has been the subject of an arrest warrant and is to be tried for abuse of corporate power, breach of trust, corruption, and active influence peddling.

Dati will be tried for receiving the proceeds of abuse of power and breach of trust, passive corruption, and passive influence peddling by a person holding public elective office within an international organization, in this case, the European Parliament. Both contest the charges in this judicial case, which has been under investigation since 2019.

Six afternoon sessions have been scheduled to hear from the two defendants, from Renault (which has joined as a civil party), and the approximately ten witnesses cited by the defense. The announced trial carries significant political implications, especially since the mayor of Paris' 7th district received support this summer from The Republicans to lead the campaign for the municipal elections in the capital. This election is set to take place six months before the court date, on March 15 and 22.

Dati's three lawyers, Frank Berton, Olivier Bluche, and Basile Ader, have indicated they intend to file motions for dismissal as soon as the proceedings begin. She is suspected of having received 900,000 euros between 2010 and 2012 for consulting services formalized in a fee agreement signed on Oct. 28, 2009, with RNBV, a Renault-Nissan alliance subsidiary, without having actually worked, while she was both a lawyer and a European Parliament member (2009-2019). The investigating judges believe Dati's activity in the European Parliament "resembles lobbying," which "seems incompatible both with her mandate and with the legal profession."

After her referral to the criminal court was announced at the end of July, Dati asserted that her legal work was real and denied any lobbying at the European Parliament. "President of the world's largest car manufacturing group, president of European automakers, do you think Carlos Ghosn needed me?" she asked. Dati is also the subject of a judicial inquiry into the possible non-disclosure of luxury jewelry to the French High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP). She again denies any irregularities.