Mystery of a minister's ring
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Here is a case for Inspector Maigret or, perhaps, Inspector Clouseau. Who "stole" a €15,000 (£13,000) ring from the finger of the embattled French Justice Minister, Rachida Dati?
A front-page photograph of Mme Dati appeared in the pro-government newspaper Le Figaro on Wednesday. The Justice Minister was wearing no ring. The same photograph appeared in the same newspaper in June. Mme Dati was wearing a spectacular ring on the second finger of her left hand. Le Figaro admitted it had tampered with the photograph to remove the ring. But why?
Le Figaro's picture editor said: "We did not want the ring to become the subject of debate. Mme Dati had nothing to do with it. It was an error of judgement. It won't happen again."
President Nicolas Sarkozy, once criticised for his own addiction to bling, recently ordered ministers to avoid conspicuous displays of wealth during the economic downturn.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments