Ziad Takieddine does not budge.
After withdrawing his accusations against Nicolas Sarkozy in the case of suspicion of Libyan financing, he now accuses the judges in charge of the case of having
"manipulated" him.
He asserts in a 14-page written statement, drawn up on December 12 with his lawyer and consulted by BFMTV and
Paris-Match
, that he was
"manipulated by judges who do not want to know the truth but who want to destroy a former president ".
Read also: Ziad Takieddine, an intermediary who talks too much
According to the two media, the document, certified by a Beirut notary, also bears the stamp of the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is in the form of an interrogation comprising 28 questions and answers.
He assures us that judges Serge Tournaire and Renaud Van Ruymbeke offered him an arrangement: They
"had made me promises in exchange for erroneous statements and against Nicolas Sarkozy, and I accepted," he
assures .
According to him, the magistrates had promised him that he would not be sentenced to more than two years in prison in the Karachi case, on the payment of kickbacks related to arms contracts with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and part of which helped finance Édouard Balladur's presidential campaign in 1995.
"Manipulated by the judges"
"He
(Judge Serge Tournaire Editor's note)
made me understand that if I could accuse Nicolas Sarkozy and his close guard, I would come out with my head held high in the Karachi case and that my property would be returned to me",
is he written in the document consulted by BFMTV and
Paris-Match
.
According to Ziad Takieddine this would be the only reason why he did not hesitate to
"accuse Nicolas Sarkozy and Claude Guéant"
during a broadcast by Jean-Jacques Bourdin on BFMTV.
Accusations then repeated in the newspaper
Mediapart
.
As a reminder, he said he had transported five million euros between November 2006 and the beginning of 2007, during three trips.
Suitcases that he had deposited, according to his statements at the time, in Claude Guéant's office for the first two then directly in an apartment at the Ministry of the Interior and in the presence of Nicolas Sarkozy, this time.
Read also: Libyan funding: Takieddine withdraws his accusations against Sarkozy
Except that the sulphurous Libyan businessman did an about-face last November.
If he still recognizes having actually transported suitcases of five million euros for Claude Guéant, he now clears Nicolas Sarkozy.
“Today, I challenge everything I have been able to say, because I have been manipulated by judges who do not want to know the truth but who want to destroy a former president for reasons that I do not know, judges which destroyed my life and my reputation, ”he
told his lawyer, still according to BFMTV.
In the statement viewed by the television channel, he justifies his turnaround by an agreement
"which has not been respected"
since he was finally sentenced to 5 years in prison last June in the Karachi case.
He would then have decided to reveal the agreement reaffirming that he "
never gave money to Nicolas Sarkozy
", reports BFMTV.
Ziad Takieddine is not, however, his first change of version since he had already defended the former President of the Republic in a book published in 2012 before accusing him and then, finally, clearing him last November.
The businessman remains indicted in this case.
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