French ex-spy chief cops suspended jail term for 15 mn euro shakedown

Bernard Bajolet, who led France's Directorate General for External Security (DGSE) from 2013 to 2017, was found to have orchestrated an attempt to coerce 15 million euros ($17.5 million) out of a businessman embroiled in a financial dispute with the service. His conviction brings to a close a 10-year-long investigation full of legal twists and turns, with the trial prompting scrutiny into the workings of the entire foreign intelligence service the 76-year-old once commanded. On March 12, 2016...