and went back to France on 4 October, where the press and the political circles called him and his team "pieds nickelés" again. The executive sought to distance itself from Julia, describing his actions as a "private initiative", though it had initially given some support to Julia by facilitating his entry into Syria. The Figaro, employer of one of the hostages, called them "dangerous amateurs", and the government mentioned a "nefarious superchery". Didier Julia responded on Europe 1 and TF1 by stating that the French diplomacy was totally lost, and said that he was bashed as a scapegoat for their failure. The "Julia Affair" begun, resulting in the arrest of Philippe Brett and Philippe Evano. Along with Dider Julia, they were put under judicial investigation for "conspiracy with foreign powers". Some commentators pointed out that this prosecution could be a smart move by the government to avoid an embarrassing parliamentary investigation into the matter – since Parliament regulations prohibit investigating a case that is already investigated by justice; the judicial case would end nowhere and embarrassing revelations would not happen. (Le Canard Enchaîné) On 21 December, the hostages were liberated by the DGSE, which said to have proceeded to whole affair. The next day, Georges Malbrunot, arrived in France and qualified Julia and his friends of "imposters" and "mythomanes" who put their lives into jeopardy. Didier Julia accused foreign minister Michel Barnier of influencing the hostages during the four-hour flight from Iraq. Barnier himself, asked on TF1 whether Julia could be excluded from the UMP, said that this would be "a minimum". On 1 March 2005, a video footage of Florence Aubenas, a French journalist of Libération taken hostage on 5 January 2005, was found in Iraq. Aubenas asks "Monsieur Julia" to rescue her. Didier Julia said that he was ready to offer his services to the government if sanctions taken against him and his friends were dropped. The French foreign minister stated that the case would be processed by regular services and that the investigation on Julia would continue (Florence Aubenas was freed on 11 June). Mandates 2 April 1967 – 30 May 1968 : Deputy 11 July 1968 – 1 April 1973 : Deputy 3 April 1973 – 1 April 1978 : Deputy 3 April 1978 – 22 May 1981 : Deputy 2 July 1981 – 1 April 1986 : Deputy 17 March 1986 – 22 March 1992