Georges Fenech

Georges Fenech (born 26 October 1954) is a French politician.

Biography
Born to a Maltese father and Italian mother in Sousse in Tunisia, in 1963 Fenech's family was repatriated in France, where they settled in Givors. After studying for a law degree, he started a career as a judge. One of his most high profile cases was the investigation on the assassination of the judge François Renaud (nicknamed "le shérif" by Lyon's underworld) in Lyon on July 3, 1975. Georges Fenech was president of the judges trade union Association Professionnelle des Magistrats(APM) till 1998. He resigned following the publication in the magazine of the APM of an article on the Procureur (District Attoney) of Toulon, Albert Lévy, containing the sentence Tant va Lévy au four qu’à la fin il se brûle (Lévy went so often to the oven that he got burnt). In his role of publisher of the magazine, Fenech was found guilty of racist public insult against the Jewish magistrate.

He started a political career with his 2002 election as a member of Assemblée Nationale (representing the Rhône as a member of Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and was re-elected in 2007.  He is a strong advocate of zero tolerance policy in criminal matters. He was the president of the parliamentary commission for the monitoring of cults. On 27 March 2008 the Conseil Constitutionnel canceled his re-election on the grounds of violation of campaign finance laws ("articles 52-8 et LO136-1 du code électoral") and made him ineligible for one year. Fenech has protested the decision and appealed to president Nicolas Sarkozy. On 23 September 2008 Fenech was appointed president of MIVILUDES, a body within the French executive in charge of monitoring cults. He is the authors on books zero tolerance policy and on cults.