Twenty-one persons have been indicted in connection with the use of false proxies at municipal polls in Neufchâteau on 14 October 2018, the Prosecutor's Office in Luxembourg announced on Thursday. The case, which was initiated by the Prosecutor's Office, related to proxies established on behalf of residents of the “Le Clos du Seigneur” home in Neufchâteau who were physically unable to go out and vote. The investigation revealed the existence of 18 dubious proxies reportedly used to obtain votes for the “Agri Ensemble” list.
This list was drawn up by Deputy Mayor Dimitri Fourny (Centre démocrate humaniste, CDH).
Of the 21 persons indicted, 17 were named as proxies on the contentious power-of-attorney documents and three were candidates on the “Agir Ensemble” list.
The group has been charged mainly with forgery, breach of trust and abusing the weakness of persons in vulnerable situations, criminal association and, in two cases, heading a criminal association.
The Luxembourg Prosecutor's Office has not released the names of the accused persons. Prosecutor Sarah Pollet said no further details would be released at this stage.
As a result of this case, the results of the municipal election in Neufchâteau have not been validated and the new municipal council was not installed in December.
The other groups that ran in the election, "Pour Vous" and "3ème Piste", petitioned Luxembourg Provincial Governor Olivier Schmitz, but he said he was unable to examine their petitions or to validate or invalidate the elections since he had no access to electoral documents seized as a result of the court case.
The Brussels Times
