The media predict that the former president will do everything possible to drag the trial.
I’m not a criminal
Sarkozy, whose sharp political rhetoric has made him a relatively popular politician, got into trouble when investigators found evidence of his attempts to lure information from a judge in a case investigating the alleged illicit financing of his own 2007 presidential campaign. France 24 writes that the president has promised Judge Gilbert Aziber to help get a good job in Monaco if he tells lawyer Terry Duke about the case investigating whether Sarkozy did not receive unauthorized funding for his presidential campaign. The case is still under investigation and, according to the media, also contains allegations that the presidential campaign may have received 50 million euros from dictator Muammar Gaddafi. However, this month, the main witness in the case, who claimed to have brought cash from Libya to Paris three times to finance Mr Sarkozy’s campaign, unexpectedly changed his testimony.
“I’m not a criminal,” the former president told BMF in a pre-trial interview this month.
Police say he bought a phone with a fake name, which he used to talk to his lawyer. Sarkozy’s representatives have tried to get the court to disregard this evidence, claiming that the conversations heard by the police violate the principles of inviolability of the exchange of information between a lawyer and a client, but the court has rejected this request. It is known that the President and his subordinate discussed at least twelve times in 2013 and 2014 with the judge of the Court of Cassation Azerbaijan and how he could obtain information from the accusation and help to obtain the desired verdict of N. Sarkozy. “I’ll get him promoted,” Sarkozy said in the talks, promising to help the judge get a good job in Monaco. Later, however, the president withdrew from the promises in the talks, which, according to the prosecutors, show that there were suspicions about the possible eavesdropping of the talks.
“Mr Aziber did not get a job in Monaco,” said Sarkozy, who said his ills were due to a desire by French lawyers to avenge the president’s efforts to limit the judiciary.
If convicted, the former president faces up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to 1.2 million euros. A similar punishment threatens the lawyer Duke. Judge Aziber, who is involved in the influence trade and corruption case, is also being tried.
Can be retracted
Although the case was scheduled to be heard by December 10, French media reported that the 73-year-old Azerbaijan had asked for the trial to be postponed due to health problems. The court has confirmed that such a request has been received, so there is a possibility that the court, the start of which has been postponed since 2015, could be delayed.
The above two cases are not the only ones involving the former president. The BBC reports that in March next year, he and thirteen others are scheduled to go to court for alleged funding irregularities during the 2012 election campaign.
It should be noted that, despite legal problems, Sarkozy is still popular with the French. Sarkozy’s memoirs Storm time became a bestseller in the summer, and people stood in line to get a signed copy.
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