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On the way to jail?
Sarkozy is on trial for bribing a judge
The former French president could be sent to up to ten years in prison if convicted in a case in which he is accused of securing a prestigious position for a judge in exchange for inside information about his investigations.
Sarkozy is involved in another string of criminal cases, including receiving funding from Gaddafi, but claims: "I can not"
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Nicolas Sarkozy
France
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Monday, 23 November 2020, 12:32
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Photo: Reuters, Editing: Yair Daniel
The trial of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is on trial for attempting to bribe a judge, began today (Monday) with what could herald a humiliating end to his career laden with legal complications.
He is not the first French president to stand trial - it was his predecessor and political mentor, Jerek Chirac, who was convicted of embezzlement - but he is the first to be charged with corruption.
He set another precedent in 2014, when he was arrested for questioning.
He has struggled to close the case for the past six years, saying the affair will not be remembered in the history books.
"I can not," said the 65-year-old former president, who was one of France's most popular politicians.
The prosecution accuses Sarkozy of promising a judge for a prestigious position in Monaco, in exchange for inside information on a separate investigation into receiving illegal funds from the heiress of the L'Oreal company during his 2007 presidential campaign.
Some of the evidence came from wiretapping conversations between him and veteran attorney Thierry Herzog.
These were approved as part of another investigation, which deals with funds transferred from Libya to Sarkozy's campaign.
This investigation continues, although this month Sarkozy received good news when the main claimant against him withdrew his main claim for transferring millions of euros in cash from dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Sarkozy and Herzog claim the eavesdropping violated the privacy of a client-lawyer relationship, but the courts have denied it.
The maximum penalty facing Sarkozy is ten years in prison, and a fine of one million euros.
Herzog faces similar charges of bribery and obstruction of investigation.
The trial is expected to last until December 10
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Served for one term.
Sarkozy (Photo: Reuters)
Investigators have discovered that Sarkozy used a pseudonym - Paul Bismuth - to buy a phone in favor of secret conversations with his lawyer.
The duo discussed an appeal to senior French judge Gilbert Azibert, who claims the plaintiffs were given a task of obtaining information in order to influence the investigation of the Batancor affair in favor of Sarkozy.
In return, Sarkozy was to use his connections to try to get Azibrat, who is also on trial, a job in Monaco.
"I will make him move forward," Sarkozy told Herzog, according to the prosecution, which compared his actions to those of an "experienced criminal."
Later, however, Sarkozy appears to have withdrawn from the plan.
This was a sign, according to the plaintiffs, that he and his lawyer had received inside information about wiretapping.
"These are fragments of sentences that have been taken out of context," Herzog's lawyer, Paul-Albert Evans, said in a radio interview yesterday.
He called it "conversations between very old friends."
"Journey of Revenge"
Sarkozy, a lawyer by training, accuses the justice system of a "revenge campaign" against him because he tried to limit the powers of judges and accused many of taking too soft a hand in dealing with criminals.
He is due to return to court in March along with 13 other people, charged with campaign finance offenses during his 2012 re-election attempt.
Prosecutors accuse Sarkozy's staff of fraud with fake invoices organized by a public relations firm.
He spent close to 43 million euros on the campaign, almost twice the legal limit.
The protracted legal tangle thwarted his comeback attempt in the 2017 presidential election, but Sarkozy has been riding a wave of popularity since announcing his retirement from politics in 2018 and has gathered ardent supporters in his public appearances.
In the summer there were long queues for him to sign his book, "The Time of the Storms," which topped the bestseller lists in France for weeks.
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