EU elections: Former Frontex director and far-right candidate in France accused of complicity in crimes against humanity

Fabrice Leggeri (left), member of the Rassemblement National (RN, far right) and former head of the Frontex agency, with RN president Jordan Bardella, during a visit to a border post between France and Italy on February 19, 2024, in Menton, France. NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP

Fabrice Leggeri, the number three on the Rassemblement National (RN, far right) slate for the European elections, has been charged with complicity in crimes against humanity and torture. According to Le Monde's information, the Human Rights League of France (LDH) and the French migrant defense association Utopia 56 filed a complaint on Tuesday, April 23, in the capacity of plaintiffs with the chief investigating judge at the Judicial Court of Paris.

This legal action has taken aim at the man who is now an RN candidate in the European parliamentary elections and was the director of the European border and coast guard agency Frontex from 2015 to 2022. The plaintiffs have accused the former high-ranking European civil servant − now on leave from the Interior Ministry, his original appointment − of having participated in, either by facilitating or covering it up, the pushback of migrant boats by the Greek authorities to Turkey, as well as the interception by the Libyan coast guard of migrant boats attempting to reach Italy.