France’s Chirac to face trial in 2011

PARIS, (Reuters) – Former French President Jacques  Chirac will go on trial next year to face criminal charges that  he misused public funds, a court said yesterday, in a case which  dates back to his tenure as mayor of Paris over 15 years ago.

The former head of state, who occupied the mayoral post  between 1977 and 1995 before becoming president, is accused of  paying salaries to 21 “phantom employees” from public coffers.

He will be the country’s first former head of state to face  criminal charges since the founding of the Fifth Republic over  half a century ago.
The case was brought against him and others  in his mayoral cabinet in 2009 after the 12 months of legal  immunity linked to his office expired. Heavy with symbolism, the case represents a potential stain  on a presidential office which has traditionally been above the  fray of daily politics.

The legal saga has mesmerised France. In August, newspaper  Le Monde published a “political fiction” series on the trial and  its imagined outcome, which was later published in book form.

Originally planned for November, the trial has been pushed  back to March-April 2011, the court said on Friday.

Chirac, 77, has said he will attend but he is not required  to do so by law. Georges Kiejman, his lawyer and a minister  under late president Francois Mitterand, told reporters on  Friday he hoped the health of Mr Chirac would allow him to  attend.

The predecessor of President Nicolas Sarkozy is not known to  have any serious health concerns, but recent media reports have  described him as “tired” and “depressed”. He lives in Paris and  works as the head of a foundation named after him.

If convicted, Chirac would face up to 10 years in prison, a  150,000-euro fine and a ten-year ban from public office. Yet the  circumstances leading up to the trial have added confusion to  its potential outcome.

The plaintiff in the case, the City of Paris, has withdrawn  its complaint after reaching a deal under which the ruling UMP  party will reimburse 1.7 million euros ($2.3 million) on  Chirac’s behalf and Chirac himself will pay 500,000 euros.

But a lawyer representing a group of taxpayers has said they  will take on the mantle of plaintiffs in the trial, though he  has yet to provide any documents backing the claim.

In the French legal system, a defendant can be convicted  even in the absence of a plaintiff or accusing party.

Further muddying the waters, the prosecutor in charge of  leading the original investigation into the case has said that  evidence was not sufficient to bring a conviction and that the  former president should be exonerated completely.

It is only because a investigating magistrate has decided to  pursue the case that it has been brought to trial.

Nine other defendants will face trial along with Chirac,  including his former cabinet director, an ex-trade union leader  and the grandson of Charles de Gaulle. The charges against them  concern extra salaries for friends and partners.

In 2007, Chirac told investigators he took responsibility  for unlawful hires but denied any embezzlement.