PARIS: French investigators searched the Elysee presidential palace on Thursday as part of a probe into alleged favouritism and corruption, after a previous attempt was refused.

The search at the official residence of President Emmanuel Macron is linked to a probe into the repeated selection over several years of the same company to organise induction ceremonies at the Pantheon mausoleum, where prominent French figures are buried.

“Search operations took place on May 21 on the premises of the Elysee Palace, as part of the judicial inquiry focusing notably on the conditions under which certain public contracts relating to the organisation of Pantheon ceremonies were awarded,” the public prosecutor’s office said.

Thursday’s operation was “preceded by institutional consultations to ensure they could proceed”, it said.

A representative of the Elysee said the presidency had authorised the search as the procedure “does not target” Macron and that “the necessary safeguards” were in place concerning the constitution and “the secrecy of national defence”.

Last month, investigators had tried to search the palace but were denied access on the grounds that the constitution guarantees the “inviolability of premises attached to the presidency”. The searches are part of an investigation opened in October into suspected favouritism, corruption and influence peddling.

French weekly Le Canard Enchaine has said investigators were looking into why the events company, Shortcut Events, had for over two decades until 2024 been picked to host the induction into the Pantheon mausoleum, estimating each ceremony to cost “around two million euros”. The last ceremony the events company organised was one in 2024 to honour Missak Manouchian, a stateless Armenian poet who died fighting the Nazi occupation of France during World War II.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2026