On several occasions, Thierry Herzog affirms it:
"Gilbert Azibert never asked me anything"
.
Curious: he nevertheless admits having, one day in January 2014, confided to Nicolas Sarkozy that his magistrate friend would like to end his brilliant career in Monaco.
This is good, the former president has planned to spend his February 2014 vacation with his family.
"It is a service that I render to Gilbert, who does not ask me,"
explains the accused
.
I hope the chairman can do something.
Unfortunately, that did not lend itself to it ”
.
To read also: Sarkozy trial: Gilbert Azibert "never requested"
The more the correctional court dissects the case of the "Bismuth tapping", the less one finds it.
A funny movie, with a solid gold cast but incapable writers.
Here is a senior magistrate who would have made a point of getting his hands on, at the Court of Cassation, the result of the appeal brought by Mr. Sarkozy after his dismissal in the Bettencourt affair, to recover his presidential agendas, before the 'judgment be given.
Here is a former President of the Republic, who would have gone to plead in Monte-Carlo, between two treatments in a luxurious spa, so that Mr. Azibert obtains his cheese, although his appeal is about to be rejected.
And between the two, a renowned criminal who promises to one that his mole does a great job, to the court of cassation, and to the other, that his great friend and ex-head of state has taken the step that the arrest robber hadn't even called upon.
Why lie like this?
To explain this, Thierry Herzog quotes one of the characters he hates the most: Edwy Plenel, director of Médiapart.
In a book, the journalist, himself a victim of the "Elysée eavesdropping" ordered by François Mitterrand, wrote in substance:
"On the phone, we talk too quickly, we lie, we say anything, we grope and we stumble.
We think we are at home, safe, we lose all reserve ”
.
A derisory trial with heavy consequences
There is something derisory in this trial, in this defense which clashes with the most basic common sense: on tapping, the three accomplices evoke the appeal, Monaco, Gilbert and a
"boost"
to the latter, it is is undeniable.
But is it a blatant offense, or the chatter of three pals who play around, each exaggerating the power of the other?
Derisory, too, this accusation brought by a national financial prosecutor's office (PNF) which employed disproportionate means, and eminently questionable, to confuse three men, none of whom won anything in the process.
The PNF listened shamelessly to a lawyer and his client - journalists too, incidentally - and carried out a secret preliminary investigation, parallel to the investigation, for six years.
The representatives of the prosecution do not have the means to give luster to an accusation so doubtfully substantiated: they are content to be needy.
Derisory, therefore, except that the defendants, prosecuted for corruption and influence peddling, incur 10 years in prison.
A basic lesson in law
Me Thierry Herzog is more comfortable justifying the purchase of phones dedicated to his conversations with his client (since 2006) Nicolas Sarkozy - the famous lines opened in the name of Paul Bismuth.
The stratagem does not date from the Bettencourt appeal, but from the moment when the former president leaves the Elysee Palace and fears tapping of all kinds, while the investigation into the supposed Libyan financing of his 2007 campaign threatens.
Client-lawyer conversations are covered by the most absolute secrecy, which even the PNF and the examining magistrates cannot, in principle, violate as they see fit.
Me Henri Leclerc, called as a witness, comes to remind the court.
He is 86 years old, wears a tired suit as usual, his walk is hesitant.
But the shoulders of this legend of the Bar, who pleaded for the last time at the assizes a few days ago, are still as broad, and his voice has not lost any of its magic.
He quotes Jean-Louis Debré, former president of the Constitutional Council:
“The rights of the defense are the rights of the lawyer”
.
We do not listen to a lawyer, a lawyer says nothing of what his client whispers to him, recalls Me Leclerc, the best law professor there is.
When he's finished, Me Hervé Temime gets up.
With the President of the Bar Iweins, he defends Thierry Herzog, but it is to the witness that he addresses, sobs in his throat at the idea that he will soon be able to hang up the dress:
"I would like to say to Me Leclerc , on my behalf, and on behalf of all defense lawyers, our immense admiration and gratitude for all he has done for defense and justice ”
.
A chill. A desire: that the court judge less a case of three cents, than the principles which are at stake behind a sparkling cast and a shaky scenario.
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