Three Cold‑Case Judges Named to Reopen Robert Boulin Inquiry

Overview

• The presidency of the Nanterre tribunal on Monday designated three judges from the national PCSNE cold‑cases unit who can immediately take over the Boulin file.
• The judges are authorized to resume judicial instruction and pursue new lines of investigation without delay, the court said in a statement.
• On June 26 the Nanterre public prosecutor asked the tribunal to assign a PCSNE judge to investigate allegations that include arrest, kidnapping or sequestration followed by death, and assassination.
• Robert Boulin, then minister of Labour, was found dead in a Rambouillet pond on October 30, 1979; the death was long ruled a suicide while his family continues to press a political‑assassination theory and seeks new forensic tests.
• The file was transferred from Versailles to the PCSNE by an April 28 dessaisissement order, a move that brings specialist resources and raises the likelihood of fresh forensic work, witness interviews and renewed prosecutorial decisions.