MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will stand trial on Monday on charges of corruption and influence peddling, in particular, by attempting to bribe a high-ranking judge in exchange for inside information.
Sarkozy served as the French president from 2007-2012. The 65-year-old is the first French head of state facing corruption accusations, although his predecessor Jacques Chirac received a two-year prison sentence in 2011 for diverting public funds, abuse of trust and conflict of interest. His sentence was suspended for health reasons.
According to the RTL broadcaster, the prosecutors suspect Sarkozy of planning to help Gilbert Azibert, a French magistrate, to obtain a significant post in Monaco, and in return he asked for information about the investigation into alleged illegal funding of his 2007 presidential campaign.
The case of suspected Libyan sponsorship of Sarkozy's presidential campaign in 2007 came under judicial inquiry in 2013 and resulted in charges of bribery and accepting illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources. However, earlier in November Lebanese-French businessman Ziad Takieddine recanted his previous claims that Sarkozy accepted 5 million Euros (nearly $6 million) in cash from the Libyan government to finance his presidential campaign.
During the probe, the investigators discovered that the ex-president used a hidden telephone under the name of Paul Bismuth to secretly communicate with his lawyer Thierry Herzog, who is also indicted for complicity in the case along with Azibert.
The defendants have denied the accusations, which, if proven, carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison.
