Almost ten years after the end of the Sarkozy five-year term, the former secretary general of the presidency Claude Guéant, the former adviser Patrick Buisson and three other people are on trial from Monday in the Elysee polls affair.
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For four weeks, the 32nd chamber of the Paris Criminal Court will roam the corridors of the “Castle” between 2007 and 2012 and immerse themselves in the functioning of power during the mandate of Nicolas Sarkozy.
Protected from the outset in this case by his presidential immunity, the former head of state was cited as a witness at the trial by the anti-corruption association Anticor, at the origin of the case.
Nicolas Sarkozy will not go to court.
In a letter, the former head of state indicated that he did not intend to "defer" to this summons, according to a source familiar with the matter to AFP.
His entourage did not wish to speak.
An acid report from the Court of Auditors
Anticor had lodged a complaint in 2010 after an acid report from the Court of Auditors in 2009. In its very first examination of the finances of the Elysee, the financial jurisdiction had pinned an agreement signed with Publifact, the company of the advisor from the extreme right who whispered in the ear of Nicolas Sarkozy, Patrick Buisson. The judicial investigations, started after three years of procedural battle, were then extended to other communication activities.
The case had shed light on the multiple polls paid by the Elysee Palace, dealing with the popularity of the president, reforms, topical issues, electoral deadlines, political rivals, ministers or even the image of the new First Lady , Carla Bruni. The content and number of these studies are not, however, the subject of prosecution at the trial which opens on Monday.
At issue during the upcoming hearings: on the one hand, communication contracts signed with the companies of Patrick Buisson and political scientist Pierre Giacometti;
on the other hand, direct orders for surveys between 2007 and 2009 from several institutes, in particular Ipsos.
Representing a total of 7.5 million euros, these expenses were made in the absence of publicity and calls for tenders, which signs, for the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), of favoritism.
Patrick Buisson is also suspected of embezzlement of public funds.
Paid 10,000 euros per month for an advisory mission, the lobbyist could also deliver surveys at his discretion.
Between 2007 and 2009, the prosecution counted 235, bought and then resold with margins of 65 to 71%, for a profit of 1.4 million euros.
"Custom"
At the time,
"it was established, according to a custom which is valid, that for decades, the Élysée was not subject to the public procurement code"
, says Patrick Buisson's lawyer, Florence Rault, who will plead the release of his client, like the advice of all defendants.
Fallen out of favor within the right in 2014 after the revelation of clandestine recordings at the Elysee Palace, Patrick Buisson maintained during the investigation that his margins were not "exorbitant".
He will also be tried for abuse of corporate assets, for having incurred nearly 180,000 euros in personal expenses for his companies, which he disputes.
Pierre Giacometti, former Ipsos, tried for concealment of favoritism in connection with a consulting contract signed in 2008 by the company he had just founded, Giacomettiperon - now No Com. On the presidency side, Nicolas Sarkozy's ex-right hand, Claude Guéant, is being prosecuted for favoritism and embezzlement of public funds through negligence, like Emmanuelle Mignon, ex-chief of staff.
"Can we really make a call for competition, when a President of the Republic has already chosen an advisor in whom he trusts?"
questions in particular Claude Guéant's lawyer, Philippe Bouchez El-Ghozi.
During the investigation, Emmanuelle Mignon argued among other things that she herself had initiated a reform of the accounts of the Elysee, where no call for tenders had ever been made.
Former councilor Julien Vaulpré also appears for favoritism.
Returned to court in 2019, another cabinet member, Jean-Michel Goudard, has since died.
Finally, four companies will be judged: the heavyweight of the Ipsos polls as well as Publifact, Publi-Opinion and No Com.
This file raises in particular the question of
"the way in which Nicolas Sarkozy exercised power, using the Elysee and the means of the State in his personal interest, caring above all about his image and his possible election in defiance of the rules of law, ”
said Anticor lawyer Jérôme Karsenti.
The former president was recently sentenced to one year in prison in the Bygmalion case as well as in the so-called "wiretapping" case - sanctions he appealed.