THE FIRST postwar trial of a former French head of state began yesterday when, after more than a decade of legal wrangling, proceedings against Jacques Chirac for misuse of public funds got under way in Paris.
But the former president may be spared an appearance in court this week if the judge accepts a late appeal from one of his co-defendants.
Outside court number one at the Palais de Justice, scores of reporters, cameramen and members of the public pressed against metal barriers awaiting a glimpse of the 78-year-old Chirac and his high-profile lawyers. The former president was excused from attending a first day devoted mainly to procedural issues, however, and his legal team said he was unlikely to appear today.
Mr Chirac is accused of using public funds to pay salaries to his political allies for non-existent jobs while he was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.
The former president has always denied committing any crime and insists the disputed jobs were legitimate and useful.
Having lost the immunity from prosecution he enjoyed as head of state until 2007, Mr Chirac faces up to 10 years in jail and a fine of €150,000 on charges including embezzlement and breach of trust.
The trial went ahead despite a decision last year by Paris city hall to drop its civil complaint against Mr Chirac after he and the ruling UMP party agreed to repay the city €2.2 million, which is the sum of the alleged bogus salaries, interest and legal fees. The UMP provided 75 per cent of the total as a gesture of “solidarity” with Mr Chirac.
On the opening day, lawyers for co-defendant Rémy Chardon, Mr Chirac’s chief of staff at city hall, made an application to appeal to a higher court on a point of constitutional law. If Judge Dominique Pauthe accedes to the request this afternoon, the trial could be delayed by six months.
Arguing in support of such a postponement, the Paris prosecutor – who has already advised against prosecution, citing insufficient evidence – spoke of Mr Chirac as an “atypical” individual and cited his 45 years of service to the state, including 12 at the Élysée Palace.
Two cases against Mr Chirac over alleged fictitious jobs – one in Paris and one in the suburb of Nanterre – were merged for the current trial. The Nanterre case has already led to the conviction of one of Mr Chirac’s political proteges, former prime minister Alain Juppé.
In 2003, Mr Juppé received a 14-month suspended sentence and a one-year ban from holding elected office over his role in the hiring of six people while serving as finance director at the Mairie de Paris under Mr Chirac. Mr Juppé was appointed foreign minister in President Nicolas Sarkozy’s cabinet reshuffle last week.
With Paris rife with rumours about Mr Chirac’s health, politicians on left and right have suggested that the trial should not go ahead. His wife Bernadette recently denied reports that Mr Chirac had Alzheimer’s disease but said he had trouble walking at times and suffered mild memory loss.
“I would sleep just as well if it didn’t take place,” Green MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit said of the trial. While Mr Chirac has become one of France’s most popular politicians since retiring in 2007, a BVA poll this week showed that 56 per cent of French people wanted him to face trial, with 31 per cent against.