Jacques Chirac's Paris corruption trial halted Skip to main content

Jacques Chirac's Paris corruption trial halted

French former President Jacques Chirac (7 March 2011) Mr Chirac denies embezzlement, breach of trust and conflict of interest

Related Stories

A Paris court has suspended the corruption trial of France's former President, Jacques Chirac, in response to a legal challenge.
A lawyer for one of nine co-defendants had argued that it was unconstitutional to merge two cases arising from Mr Chirac's tenure as mayor of Paris.
The judge, Dominique Pauthe, said the court would reconvene on 20 June.
Mr Chirac denies paying members of his RPR party between 1977 and 1995 for municipal jobs that did not exist.
He is the first French ex-head of state to face a criminal trial since wartime leader Field Marshal Philippe Petain was convicted of treason.
The two cases centre on the latter years of Mr Chirac's time as Paris mayor.

“Start Quote

Georges Kiejman, lawyer for Jacques Chirac (8 March 2011)
Jacques Chirac does not want this. Jacques Chirac will be disappointed not to be able to explain himself tomorrow”
End Quote Georges Kiejman Lawyer representing Jacques Chirac
In the first, brought by Paris investigators, he is charged with embezzlement and breach of trust over the employment of 21 so-called "ghost" jobs.
The second came about from a separate investigation in the Paris suburb of Nanterre and involved the charge of illegal conflict of interest relating to seven ghost jobs.
A lawyer representing co-defendant Remy Chardon, Mr Chirac's former Paris chief of staff, complained that the two cases had been brought together because the statute of limitations had run out on the first Paris case.
The judge ruled that his complaint would have to be considered by France's highest court, the Court of Cassation. That court will then have to decide whether to refer the case to France's Constitutional Council.
'Disappointed' Anti-corruption group Anticor said the ruling meant Mr Chirac was again going to escape the justice system.
But Mr Chardon's lawyer, Jean-Yves Le Borgne, insisted the former president had nothing to do with the decision to seek a postponement to the case.
And a lawyer representing Mr Chirac, Georges Kiejman, said his client's legal team should take "neither the credit nor the blame" for it.
Mr Chirac was not in court for the first two days of the trial but had been expected to appear on Wednesday.
"Jacques Chirac does not want this. Jacques Chirac will be disappointed not to be able to explain himself tomorrow," Mr Kiejman said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12679079
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera

The Life Story of A Distinguished And Outstanding Bhikkhu The Most Venerable Saradawpharagree Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera The Buddhist missionary Saradaw Ashin U Chandramani was endowed with great gifts and led a famous and long life. He was a very well known, distinguished and outstanding Bhikkhu Mahathera. While living in the Kushinagar Monastery, a place close to where the Lord Buddha had passed away to Nirvana, the Government of India had offered, and he had accepted, the highest, most honourable and respected title "Guru Guru MahaGuru". He became the first ever President of all Buddhists in India.A World Buddhist Conference took place in Kathmandu during the reign of King Mahindra of Nepal. The Conference was very well attended by over one hundred thousand Buddhists from various parts of the world and it was opened by King Mahindra himself. As requested by the King, Saradawpharagree blessed all the participants with the power of Triple Gems...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do...
1 comment
Read more