Bernard Tapie's appeal trial, retried for “
fraud
” after his release in July 2019 in the arbitration case which had granted him 403 million euros in 2008 to settle his old dispute with Credit Lyonnais, is is open this Monday, October 12 in Paris.
To read also: Bernard Tapie to the Marseillais: "You will be forever the first"
The 77-year-old businessman, who has been battling double cancer of the stomach and esophagus for nearly three years, appeared weak, masked and almost voiceless.
This did not prevent him from losing his temper at the opening of his trial, even threatening in a barely audible voice to "
leave
" the room, if he could not speak on the resale of Adidas in the 1990s, the starting point of its old dispute with Crédit Lyonnais.
Bernard Tapie.
THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
“
Mr. Tapie is probably not fit to appear.
With the efforts that he makes, the least of things is that he has the opportunity to be heard,
”then underlined his lawyer Hervé Temime.
"
I think this is the last fight of his life
"
,
he had already said on October 6 to BFM TV.
"
And honestly, seeing him with so much courage and determination when he's very weak ... He wants to witness every minute of his trial when I'm sure if a doctor examined him he would probably tell him what to do with him. 'he is not able to.
At that level, it is, I must say, quite astonishing.
""
It is in a delicate form
, "he also clarified.
Five weeks of trial
Bernard Tapie is accused of having activated his support at the Elysee Palace so that the authorities choose the arbitration route instead of a classic judicial resolution.
To read also: Bernard Tapie: "Why I appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union"
SEE ALSO
- Non Stop People - Bernard Tapie: worrying news about his state of health
Five people are retried alongside Bernard Tapie: his former lawyer Maurice Lantourne and one of the three umpires Pierre Estoup are also being prosecuted for "
fraud
", suspected of having "
rigged
" the arbitration award in favor of the former. boss of the Olympique de Marseille.
Stéphane Richard, chief of staff to the former Minister of the Economy Christine Lagarde at the material time, and the two former directors of the entities responsible for managing the liabilities of Crédit Lyonnais, Jean-François Rocchi and Bernard Scemama, are they retried for "
complicity
"
On July 9, 2019, the Paris Criminal Court pronounced a general acquittal.
For the judges, "
no element of the file
" allowed to affirm that the arbitration, supposed to settle an old dispute between Bernard Tapie and the Credit Lyonnais and which was definitively considered irregular by the civil justice, was the subject of "
Fraudulent maneuvers
".
The Paris prosecutor's office, which considers that the arbitration was "
rigged
" and which had requested prison sentences against five of the six defendants, including five years against Bernard Tapie for "
fraud
" and "
embezzlement of public funds
", had appealed.
The court of appeal must now return to this case for five weeks.
