A few words of a nature to appease.
Forced to testify in the Elysee polls trial, Nicolas Sarkozy explained himself briefly on Wednesday, explaining that the police had "no need" to intervene to make him testify.
"The police are quite busy, no need to take care of me, I have always responded to invitations that have been sent to me", declared Nicolas Sarkozy, on the sidelines of a signing session in Lyon .
Faced with a few journalists, the former president did not however explicitly confirm his presence in court on November 2, specifying that he would "have the opportunity to say what (he) would do calmly".
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Quoted at the trial by the Anticor association, at the origin of the Elysee polls affair, the former head of state had indicated in a letter addressed to the court that he did not hear "at all comply with this summons ”.
But since Tuesday, the court considers "that the testimony of Nicolas Sarkozy is (...) necessary for the manifestation of the truth" and that it is "likely to have an influence on the charges against the defendants", according to the comments of President Benjamin Blanchet.
According to the Constitution, the Head of State is covered by criminal immunity for acts performed during his mandate, but the supreme text "does not in any way prevent a former president from being heard as a witness", recalled the magistrate.
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The court ruling prompted many reactions on Tuesday.
Forced to appear, Nicolas Sarkozy calms things down: "I do not respond to provocations (...) You have to be full of composure, not to be passionate, not to upset things".
"There is a constitution, there are laws and we must respect them, it is the only thing I ask", continued Sarkozy, between two initials of his last essay "Promenades" (Ed. Herscher) in a bookshop in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon.
"We know how to find me and therefore do not feed the media circus, just stay calm," urged the former president.
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Bygmalion case: sentenced to one year in prison, Nicolas Sarkozy will appeal
Since Monday and for four weeks, five former relatives of Nicolas Sarkozy, including the former secretary general of the presidency Claude Guéant, have been tried for suspicion of favoritism and embezzlement of public funds, linked to consulting and polling contracts between 2007 and 2012.
Benefiting from immunity in this case, the former tenant of the Élysée Palace has never been prosecuted.
This has not been the case in the other cases which are catching up with him now.
In recent months, he has been sentenced to prison in two cases, that of the "wiretapping" and that of the Bygmalion.
He appealed each time.