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MENA Observatory – France
Today, Monday, the French judiciary began the trial of the country’s former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, on corruption charges.
The former French president appears in court, accused of attempting to bribe a judge and abuse of influence, while prosecutors say he offered Judge Gilbert Azibert a “wonderful” job in Monaco in exchange for secret information about an investigation into ” Sarkozy’s acceptance of illegal payments from an heir “L’Oréal” Lilian Bettencourt for her 2007 presidential campaign.
Since 2013, investigators have been listening to phone calls between “Sarkozy” and his lawyer, “Thierry Herzog,” as they investigate suspicions of financing the 2007 election campaign in Libya.
Prosecutors confirmed that “the wiretaps revealed that Sarkozy and Herzog discussed contact with Azibert on more than one occasion,” noting that “Sarkozy offered to help Azibert get a job in Monaco in exchange for help from within.”
The 65-year-old former French president condemned the trial, saying it was a “scandal that will go down in history” and vowed to go to court in a “fighting spirit” as part of this unprecedented trial.
Sarkozy, who retired from politics after losing the primaries at the end of 2016, faces a possible 10-year prison sentence and a € 1 million fine on charges of corruption and abuse of influence.
It should be noted that this alleged case of “wiretapping” originates from another judicial file that threatens Sarkozy, which is the suspicion that he obtained Libyan financing for his presidential campaign in 2007.
In this context, the judges decided in September 2013 to subject the former president to wiretapping, and discovered in early 2014 that he was using a secret line, under the pseudonym “Paul Bismuth”, to communicate with his lawyer, “Thierry Ertzog” .
It should be noted that former President Jacques Chirac was brought to trial and sentenced in 2011 to two years in prison for embezzlement of public funds through false jobs in the municipality of Paris, but did not appear before the judges due to his state of health. But Sarkozy is the first French president to appear in court in a corruption case.
