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Intelligence memos and grey zones before French courts
The Nantes Administrative Court. © OceanProd/iStock//Mark Astakhov/iStock//Indigo Publications

Running story
Intelligence memos and grey zones before French courts

The French Ministry of the Interior regularly rejects French nationality applications from foreign nationals living in France, on the grounds that they are not "loyal" to the country. Chinese, Russian, Colombian, Kurdish and Algerian citizens have all faced rejection on this basis. The refusal is based on memos from the French domestic intelligence service (DGSI), which allege, for example, close links with a foreign intelligence service, but without giving any further details. French courts are thus becoming increasingly fussy about the content of those memos.

Intelligence memos and grey zones before French courts
The Nantes Administrative Court. © OceanProd/iStock//Mark Astakhov/iStock//Indigo Publications

China, France
Court highlights glaring errors in French intelligence service note on Chinese company

Legal action by the head of a Chinese company who has been refused a French visa has shown up deficiencies of the DGSI in the financial investigation sphere. The note the French domestic intelligence service prepared for a court hearing was torn to pieces by the man's defence team.

LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 09.12.2024

Canada, France, Iran
Visa refusal review for researcher of Iranian origin with alleged links to Revolutionary Guards

A French administrative court has suspended a decision to refuse to grant long-stay visas to a couple who are of Iranian origin and who have been recruited to teach at the University of Picardy and a business school in Amiens.

LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 15.11.2024

France, Russia
Wife of ex-KGB officer turns to Iranian specialist lawyer to get French visa

After having her application rejected, the partner of a former KGB agent will not be able to travel to France to reunite with her family unless she appeals. But, unusually, for legal representation she has turned to a lawyer renowned for his expertise in Iranian affairs.

LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 25.10.2024

China, France, Israel
Researcher prevented from taking up post at French engineering school due to alleged Chinese army links

A Chinese teacher-researcher recruited by the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers has been prevented from travelling to France to take up his post. A French administrative court has confirmed his visa refusal after French intelligence indicated he had links with the Chinese military.

Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers, Paris.
Free access Government Intelligence 23.09.2024
Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers, Paris.

Algeria, France, Morocco
French police intelligence officer loses security clearance over Algerian and Moroccan secret service links

The clearance of the agent, who used to operate in the northern suburbs of Paris, was initially withdrawn by the interior ministry in mid-2021. A move that has now been upheld by the courts.

An aerial view of the French town of Saint Denis in the northern Parisian suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, where the officer used to operate.
LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 24.07.2024
An aerial view of the French town of Saint Denis in the northern Parisian suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, where the officer used to operate.

France
How spying on China impacts the French fight against jihadism

The case of a French police officer suspected by the DGSI of being a Chinese agent of influence illustrates the difficult trade-offs between counter-espionage cases and intelligence service priorities, notably in the fight against terrorism.

The Nantes administrative court of appeal has overturned the withdrawal of the security clearance for a French police officer responsible for monitoring jihadist networks in the Rennes region of France.
LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 12.07.2024
The Nantes administrative court of appeal has overturned the withdrawal of the security clearance for a French police officer responsible for monitoring jihadist networks in the Rennes region of France.

Algeria, France
French court overturns Algerian's nationality ruling over vague intelligence memo

A French administrative court has reversed an interior ministry decision to deny an Algerian's naturalisation that was based on a memo from the DGSI domestic intelligence agency claiming he worked with Algerian intelligence.

LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 21.05.2024

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LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 13.05.2024

Spotlight | China, Colombia, France, Vietnam
French domestic spy agency's role in citizenship applications under judicial scrutiny

French courts are dealing with a growing number of counter-espionage cases involving applications for citizenship. On the basis of notes from the DGSI domestic intelligence service, which are sometimes approximate, the courts have to assess the proximity of the applicant or his or her spouse to foreign intelligence services.

LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 03.04.2024

China, France
Chinese woman refused French naturalisation over husband's ties to Beijing intelligence

A French court has upheld the refusal to naturalise a Chinese national over her husband's involvement with Beijing's intelligence operations in France.

LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 14.03.2024

France, Russia
Intelligence 'notes blanches', a black box of visa refusals for Russian nationals

There have been a string of visa refusals for Russian nationals suspected of being spies based on "notes blanches" prepared by the French intelligence services. Those unsigned memos can sometimes lack detail or even have inaccuracies.

LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 02.01.2024

Spotlight | France, Ukraine
French intelligence service kiboshes naturalisation of Ukrainian potential asset

Despite Paris's support for Kyiv, France's domestic intelligence service remains concerned about counter-espionage. France's refusal to grant citizenship to a Ukrainian professor, based on a note from the DGSI, shines a spotlight on the service's interests in Ukraine's State representations in the French capital.

LogoSubscribers only Government Intelligence 16.01.2023

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