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French court puts former president Sarkozy on trial for corruption, influence peddling

Xinhua,March 30, 2018 Adjust font size:

PARIS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will face trial for corruption and influence peddling, Le Monde newspaper reported on Thursday.

Judges accused Sarkozy of having proposing a promotion for a prosecutor in exchange for tip-offs on an inquiry into allegations he had exploited the mental frailty of France's richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt, to enjoy donations to finance his 2007 presidential campaign.

In October 2017, the National Finance Prosecutor had asked to send the former head of state to criminal court for corruption and using his influence to secure information about a judicial probe.

Sarkozy's lawyer Thierry Herzog and former magistrate Gilbert Azibert will also face trial on charges of "corruption, trading in influence and concealment of breach of professional secrecy".

The conservative politician, who served as president of France from 2007 to 2012, has been dogged by a series of investigations into corruption and financial irregularities of his election campaign.

Last week, he was placed under formal investigation on suspicion of passive corruption, illegal financing of the election campaign and the concealment of Libyan public funds. Enditem

 

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