One of the most powerful figures in French medi, dubbed the 'Queen of Paparazzi', is under arrest over claims she paid Amal Clooney's uncle to withdraw his claim that ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy had received campaign funds from Colonel Gaddafi.
Mimi Marchand, a journalist from Paris Match magazine who runs the BestImage agency, was taken into custody for questioning in Nanterre, west of Paris.
Marchand, 74, was detained and had her home searched on the orders of magistrates investigating alleged corruption by Sarkozy.
Journalist Francois de Labarre was also taken into custody but was released without charge on Thursday evening.
Marchand, known widely as 'Mimi', works closely with a host of rich and powerful figures from the worlds of politics and entertainment, including President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte.
Marchand and de Labarre were instrumental in organising an interview in November with one of the main witnesses against Sarkozy, Ziad Takieddine, 70, in which he withdrew his allegations against the former head of state.
Sarkozy denies receiving funds from Gaddafi and said that 'the truth is finally out' after Takieddine, uncle to human rights lawyer Clooney, retracted his claim.
Afterwards, speaking to French investigators, Takieddine changed his story again, retracting what he had told Paris Match and saying that his words had been 'deformed'.
The investigative website Mediapart, which broke the news of Marchand and de Laberre's detention, said the pair were suspected of 'underground negotiations with Mr Takieddine' in order to convince him to withdraw his allegations against Sarkozy.
Under French law, this could be a criminal offence of witness tampering.
Paris Match condemned the arrest of one of its journalists which it said was 'contrary to all democratic principles'.
Reporters Without Borders chief Christophe Deloire tweeted that it was 'obviously disproportionate' that five armed officers had banged on the door of a journalist in front of their small child and the arrest was part of a 'deplorable legal process'.
Before retracting his claims in the Paris Match interview, Takieddine had always alleged that he delivered suitcases stuffed with five million euros (around £4.3m) in cash from Tripoli to Sarkozy's chief of staff in 2006 and 2007.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9654603/French-Queen-Paparazzi-arrested-claim-paid-witness-drop-allegations.html
