A police report on a street scuffle involving Arthur de Villepin, son of France’s aristocratic Prime Minister Dominique, was mysteriously removed from the station’s files the day after the incident, French media said on Wednesday.
According to Libération and the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchainé, de Villepin Jr (17) and friends squared up with another — apparently equally merry — group of youths on Saturday night on the Boulevard Emile-Augier, in the capital’s chic 16th arrondissement.
When four police cars arrived on the scene with their blue lights flashing, Arthur de Villepin reportedly proffered his cellphone to an officer who found himself talking to the prime minister.
”As if by a miracle”, Libération said, those concerned were instantly released without charge.
Le Canard, however, reported that ”emissaries” from the interior ministry called at the local police station the following day to demand the report on the event. ”There now remains no administrative record of the incident whatsoever,” the usually well-informed weekly said.
The Paris police chief, Pierre Mutz, denied the story, saying in a statement it ”did not correspond to the reality”. – Guardian Unlimited Â