21-09-2009, 12:23 PM
From afp,
http://www.javno.com/en-world/trial-of-t...ozy_275973
France's most politically charged trial in years is set to begin Monday with former prime minister Dominique de Villepin accused of plotting to smear Nicolas Sarkozy before he became president.
Dubbed the trial of the decade, the judicial drama features a Who's Who cast of big names in politics, industry and intelligence circles, beginning with Sarkozy, who is a civil plaintiff in the case.
The 55-year-old Villepin faces charges of conspiring to slander Sarkozy in 2004 when the pair were waging a fierce battle to win their right-wing party's nomination to succeed president Jacques Chirac.
The trial of the so-called "Clearstream affair" is shaping up as a showdown between Villepin and Sarkozy, whose mutual hatred is legendary in French political circles.
But the month-long hearings before the Paris criminal court could also cast light on the murky dealings of French intelligence and at one of the world's top aerospace companies, EADS.
Villepin has denied any wrongdoing and faces up to five years in jail
The case centres on a list -- later proved to have been fabricated -- of account holders at the Clearstream financial clearing house in Luxembourg who allegedly took bribes from the sale of French frigates to Taiwan.
One name on the bogus list was that of Sarkozy, the ambitious minister who suspects Villepin, Chirac's chosen heir, of planning to use the fake document to try to torpedo his presidential bid.
Villepin has denied any wrongdoing and faces up to five years in jail and a 45,000-euro (66,000-dollar) fine if convicted.
A suave diplomat whose stirring speech against the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 drew applause at the United Nations, Villepin is accused of complicity in slander and in use of forgeries, dealing in stolen property and breach of trust.
Villepin's four lawyers will ask the Paris court on Monday to remove Sarkozy from the list of civil plaintiffs, arguing that his status as president seriously undermines their client's right to a fair trial.
Sarkozy registered as a plaintiff in 2006 to gain access to the case files and secure his right to seek damages as have 39 others including Dominique Strauss-Kahn, now the head of the International Monetary Fund.
Sarkozy wants revenge
French commentators agree that the trial has the trappings of a settling of scores between the two politicians.
Sarkozy "wants his revenge, that is a conviction for Dominique de Villepin and, let's be clear about it, the death of his political career," wrote editorialist Patrice Chabanet in the Journal de la Haute-Marne.
Chief editorialist Laurent Joffrin of the leftwing Liberation daily wrote that "for the sake of a healthy French democracy, it is crucial that the truth be known, regardless of the consequences."
Judges are expected to take several months to reach a verdict after the trial ends on October 23.
Four other defendants also face charges in the case.
Villepin is expected to take the stand next week
EADS ex-vice president Jean-Louis Gergorin, a former Villepin associate, has admitted to leaking the bogus list to investigators in 2004.
Imad Lahoud, a computer expert and ex-EADS employee, has reportedly confessed to falsifying the list with Villepin's knowledge.
Management consultant Florian Bourges is accused of stealing Clearstream documents and journalist Denis Robert, who broke the story, is charged with dealing in stolen property.
Villepin himself is expected to take the stand next week, defending himself in the exact Paris courtroom where Marie Antoinette was sentenced to the guillotine in 1793.
http://www.javno.com/en-world/trial-of-t...ozy_275973
France's most politically charged trial in years is set to begin Monday with former prime minister Dominique de Villepin accused of plotting to smear Nicolas Sarkozy before he became president.
Dubbed the trial of the decade, the judicial drama features a Who's Who cast of big names in politics, industry and intelligence circles, beginning with Sarkozy, who is a civil plaintiff in the case.
The 55-year-old Villepin faces charges of conspiring to slander Sarkozy in 2004 when the pair were waging a fierce battle to win their right-wing party's nomination to succeed president Jacques Chirac.
The trial of the so-called "Clearstream affair" is shaping up as a showdown between Villepin and Sarkozy, whose mutual hatred is legendary in French political circles.
But the month-long hearings before the Paris criminal court could also cast light on the murky dealings of French intelligence and at one of the world's top aerospace companies, EADS.
Villepin has denied any wrongdoing and faces up to five years in jail
The case centres on a list -- later proved to have been fabricated -- of account holders at the Clearstream financial clearing house in Luxembourg who allegedly took bribes from the sale of French frigates to Taiwan.
One name on the bogus list was that of Sarkozy, the ambitious minister who suspects Villepin, Chirac's chosen heir, of planning to use the fake document to try to torpedo his presidential bid.
Villepin has denied any wrongdoing and faces up to five years in jail and a 45,000-euro (66,000-dollar) fine if convicted.
A suave diplomat whose stirring speech against the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 drew applause at the United Nations, Villepin is accused of complicity in slander and in use of forgeries, dealing in stolen property and breach of trust.
Villepin's four lawyers will ask the Paris court on Monday to remove Sarkozy from the list of civil plaintiffs, arguing that his status as president seriously undermines their client's right to a fair trial.
Sarkozy registered as a plaintiff in 2006 to gain access to the case files and secure his right to seek damages as have 39 others including Dominique Strauss-Kahn, now the head of the International Monetary Fund.
Sarkozy wants revenge
French commentators agree that the trial has the trappings of a settling of scores between the two politicians.
Sarkozy "wants his revenge, that is a conviction for Dominique de Villepin and, let's be clear about it, the death of his political career," wrote editorialist Patrice Chabanet in the Journal de la Haute-Marne.
Chief editorialist Laurent Joffrin of the leftwing Liberation daily wrote that "for the sake of a healthy French democracy, it is crucial that the truth be known, regardless of the consequences."
Judges are expected to take several months to reach a verdict after the trial ends on October 23.
Four other defendants also face charges in the case.
Villepin is expected to take the stand next week
EADS ex-vice president Jean-Louis Gergorin, a former Villepin associate, has admitted to leaking the bogus list to investigators in 2004.
Imad Lahoud, a computer expert and ex-EADS employee, has reportedly confessed to falsifying the list with Villepin's knowledge.
Management consultant Florian Bourges is accused of stealing Clearstream documents and journalist Denis Robert, who broke the story, is charged with dealing in stolen property.
Villepin himself is expected to take the stand next week, defending himself in the exact Paris courtroom where Marie Antoinette was sentenced to the guillotine in 1793.
The most relevant literature regarding what happened since September 11, 2001 is George Orwell's "1984".