Twenty-two people went on trial in France on Monday on charges of murder and other serious crimes centred on members of a Masonic lodge accused of running hit squads.
Thirteen of the defendants face life imprisonment.
Those in the dock include four military personnel from France’s foreign intelligence service (DGSE), two police officers, a retired domestic intelligence officer, a security guard and two business executives.
They are accused of the murder of a racing driver, the attempted murders of a business coach and a trade unionist, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy – all on behalf of a mafia network inside the former Athanor Masonic Lodge in the Paris suburb of Puteaux.
Several freemasons from the 20 or so members of the lodge are in the dock.
Most of the accused, aged between 30 and 73, have no previous criminal records.
Five of the suspects are in custody and 16 are under judicial supervision, while one woman is appearing in court as a free person.
The alleged ringleaders are Athanor Freemasons Jean-Luc Bagur, Frédéric Vaglio and Daniel Beaulieu. They face life in jail if convicted.
So does Beaulieu’s right-hand man Sébastien Leroy, who is accused of carrying out the trio’s dirty work himself or through a hit-man network.
The case was triggered by a botched contract killing in July 2020, when two members of France’s parachute regiment were arrested in possession of weapons near the home of business coach Marie-Hélène Dini.
Under questioning, they said they thought they had been asked to murder Dini on behalf of the French state on the grounds that she worked for Israeli spy agency Mossad.
Hellbound and Down 