FRANCE’S FORMER president Jacques Chirac could avoid a planned corruption trial after the ruling UMP party yesterday confirmed it was prepared to help him repay some of the money he allegedly misused when he was mayor of Paris.
An investigating magistrate last year ordered Mr Chirac (77) to stand trial on criminal charges of embezzlement relating to his time as mayor of the French capital, from 1977 to 1995. Mr Chirac, who would be the first ex-president of France to stand trial if the case went to court, is accused of inventing 21 fictitious jobs for friends and political allies in the early 1990s. He denies any wrongdoing.
Under a deal being negotiated between Mr Chirac’s lawyers and the Paris mayor’s office, city hall would withdraw its civil complaint against the former president in exchange for €2.2 million, of which Mr Chirac would pay 25 per cent and the UMP party, which was created by Mr Chirac in 2002, would pay the rest. The sum is the total of the bogus salaries, interest and legal fees, a statement from the city said.
Mr Chirac’s prospects of avoiding trial on charges of embezzlement would then be significantly improved, as the criminal and civil proceedings have been merged and the public prosecutor has already recommended that charges against the former head of state be dropped due to insufficient evidence.
The secretary general of the UMP, Xavier Bertrand, confirmed yesterday that he would propose to the party’s executive council that it come to Mr Chirac’s aid in reimbursing the mayor’s office. He was expecting an approach from city hall in the coming days. “It’s the political act of a political family. We have a duty of solidarity towards Jacques Chirac,” Mr Bertrand said.
Mr Chirac’s lawyer, Jean Veil, said the former president had always denied committing any crime, and insisted the disputed jobs were legitimate and useful for the city of Paris. He said his client had agreed to pay the compensation to stop the scandal damaging the city’s reputation.
According to the investigative and satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, which first reported the negotiations between Mr Chirac’s lawyers and city hall, the deal was worked out by President Nicolas Sarkozy and his predecessor over lunch a few weeks ago.
The Socialist mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, has been strongly criticised by some politicians on the left for agreeing to the settlement. “There’s a moral problem,” said Green MEP Daniel-Cohn Bendit. “If there is wrongdoing, one cannot repair it just like that . . . because we’re talking about a former president of the Republic.” Mr Delanoë said he was “not the head of the Inquisition” and insisted he acted simply in the interests of Parisians by seeking to recover the money.
He was supported yesterday by Socialist party spokesman Benoît Hamon, who said the mayor was seeking to secure the best deal for taxpayers rather than “a head on the plate”.
