He is not and will not be a civil party.
Paul Bismuth, whose name was used as an alias by Nicolas Sarkozy to communicate with his lawyer Thierry Herzog, denied his participation in the trial which opened Monday in Paris in which the former president is suspected of corruption.
Paul Bismuth, who lives in Israel, took issue with the remarks on Monday of a lawyer, Frédérik-Karel Canoy, who said he had become a civil party.
"I oppose a firm denial [...] I do not know this lawyer," he told AFP.
“I have nothing to do with all this […] I aspire to peace,” he added, complaining of being harassed by the press.
Except that according to a journalist from BFMTV, the lawyer in question would have been mandated by another Parisian lawyer, who himself would have spoken to Paul Bismuth.
We were able to reach Paul Bismuth, still in Israel now, he claims that he does not know the lawyer who appeared on his behalf yesterday at the hearing during the Sarkozy / Herzog / Azibert trial, and also says that he does not intend to become a civil party!
Except that...
- Alexandra Gonzalez (@AlexandraGzz) November 24, 2020
"I thought, at one point, about this hypothesis (to become a civil party), but I did not go further, because I do not see where it would lead me," said Paul Bismuth for his part.
The trial suspended until Thursday
In this case, the judges decided in September 2013 to place the former president on wiretap and discovered, in early 2014, that he was using a secret line, under the alias “Paul Bismuth”, to communicate with Thierry Herzog.
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The trial of Nicolas Sarkozy opens on Monday: what you need to know about the wiretapping affair
According to the prosecution, some of their conversations revealed the existence of a corruption pact: Nicolas Sarkozy would have, through his lawyer, considered bringing a "boost" to Gilbert Azibert, then a senior magistrate , for a position in Monaco that he coveted - and that he never got.
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In return, Gilbert Azibert would have provided information covered by secrecy on a procedure initiated by the former head of state before the Court of Cassation on the sidelines of the Bettencourt case.
The trial, which opened on Monday, is scheduled to resume Thursday.
