Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to appear in court in charges of corruption and influence peddling following the rejection of his last appeal by France's highest court.
AFP quoted sources saying that the former president will likely have to appear in court in the coming months.
Sarkozy’s lawyer stated that the country's Court of Cassation - which rules on questions of law - ruled that a trial was justified for Sarkozy as well as his lawyer Thierry Herzog and a former judge, Gilbert Azibert.
The influence-peddling case centres on claims that Sarkozy accepted illicit payments from the L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his 2007 presidential campaign, with Sarkozy offering Azibert a plum job in Monaco in exchange.
According to AFP, the inquiry also revealed that Sarkozy and Herzog often communicated via cellphones obtained under false identities - with Sarkozy using the name Paul Bismuth.
He was cleared over the Bettencourt allegations in 2013, but investigators believe the deal fell through.
According to FRANCE 24’s Political Editor Marc Perelman, if Sarkozy is convicted on all charges, he risks a “prison sentence of up to 10 years. So this is a very, very serious case.”
Sarkozy is not the first ex-president to be prosecuted as his predecessor Jacques Chirac was given a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for embezzlement and misuse of public funds during his time as mayor of Paris. But for Sarkozy, it might be the first time a former French president stands trial for actions taken during his presidency.
Follow the latest news on Google News
