Paris court delays Chirac corruption trial until June
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Paris criminal court announced Tuesday that it will postpone the trial of former French President Jacques Chirac to June, sparing over two months to decide whether the former leader was guilty in the "fake jobs" affair dated back to the 1990s.
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Former French President Jacques Chirac arrives at his office in Paris, March 7, 2011, a few hours before the start of his corruption trial in Paris which will be the first time a former head of state has been called on to appear before the courts in France. Chirac, president until 2007, is expected to attend the trial on Tuesday. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
Chirac, 78, was accused of creating "fake jobs" in a way to misappropriate public money to friends and allies in his Rally For the Republic (RPR) Party when he served as Paris mayor in the 1990s.
The court has accepted the appeal of a co-defendant in the case that cast doubts on the process of the trial and asked constitutional authorities to review the process. This interruption would delay the trial which is to close from previously scheduled April 8 to June 20.
Public prosecutors filed the suit against Chirac after he lost the immunity as French president in 2007, making him the first ex- president of France under judicial investigation since the leader of Vichy France, Marshal Philippe Petain, was convicted of treason after World War II.
This trial, starting from March 7, is set to probe into two similar cases in the combined process.
According to a hearing conclusion last October, the first case concerned 21 contract staff with Paris City Hall, placing Chirac under charges of embezzlement and breach of trust with other nine co-defendants, and the second involved seven jobs in public sector of Nanterre, accusing Chirac of illegal conflict of interest as the only defendant.
Chirac said he will appear in the court despite concerns over his health condition. In January, reports said Chirac was in declining health, anticipating that he won't stand trial. However, his wife denied the reports that Chirac was suffering from Alzheimer's, and his lawyer also said that Chirac has said he will stand trial.
If convicted, according to French law, Chirac will risk 10 years in jail and a fine of 150,000 euros (about 210,280 U.S. dollars), however, local media widely assumed that the ex- president will at worst suffer loss in fame and suspended sentences.
Chirac, one of France's most popular political figures, served as Paris mayor from 1977 to 1995 and was involved in corruption scandals more than once but never convicted mainly thanks to his immunity as French president from 1995 to 2007.
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