A French court has today postponed the trial of former president Jacques Chirac over alleged misuse of public funds while it seeks advice on a constitutional challenge that will hold the case up for months.
Mr Chirac (78), who ruled France for 12 years, has been accused of channeling public money into phantom jobs for political cronies while he was mayor of Paris between 1977 and 1995.
The court set a date of June 20th for the trial to reopen if it gets clearance from the country's Constitutional Council, which has been asked say whether some of the alleged offences are too old to go to court.
Reuters