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Former French president Chirac faces graft trial in September

AFP Monday, 20 Jun 2011 9:32 pm | Comments

PARIS - France’s former leader Jacques Chirac is to be tried for corruption relating to his time as Paris mayor in the 1990s in September, a judge said Monday, the first ever trial of a French ex-president. Presiding judge Dominique Pauthe said the long-delayed trial of the popular politician, now aged 78, would take place in Paris from September 5 to 23. Chirac, who is accused of embezzling public funds while mayor, avoided the dock in March when lawyers for one of his co-defendants won a postponement arguing that certain charges were unconstitutional.
The country’s highest appeals court however ruled that the constitutional challenge was not valid. Chirac enjoyed immunity from prosecution as president from 1995 to 2007, but the case, which has already seen current Foreign Minister Alain Juppe convicted, has finally caught up with the former head of state. He is accused of using public funds to pay people working for his party ahead of his successful 1995 election bid. He denies knowledge of illegal payments and his lawyers accuse magistrates of harbouring a political agenda.

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