Prosecutors have called for Nicolas Sarkozy and his two co-defendants to be jailed for two years at the corruption trial in Paris where the former president is accused of trying to bribe a senior judge in return for confidential judicial information.
The demand from the financial crimes prosecution unit, the Parquet National Financier (PNF), came on Tuesday December 8th after a long summing up of the case against the ex-head of state involving no fewer than three prosecutors.
They called for Sarkozy, who is charged with influence peddling and corruption, his lawyer and close friend Thierry Herzog and retired senior magistrate Gilbert Azibert, each to be given prison sentences of four years, two of them suspended. They also asked that Thierry Herzog be banned from practising as a lawyer for five years.
The three accused, who were sat side by side in red chairs in the 32nd criminal chamber at the Paris courtrooms, showed no emotion as the demands for them to be sent to prison were made.
The hearing started with a first appearance in the trial of PNF boss Jean-François Bohnert. Robed in his court gowns, he stood next to his two prosecution colleagues, who have been pushed around somewhat by the defence since the start of the trial. He began by referring to the importance of the occasion and said it was the job of the prosecution to “apply the law and make sure the law is respected”.
He continued: “This trial is not about vengeance on the part of institutions, or of the judiciary and still less of the Parquet National Financier. No one here is looking to take revenge against a former president of the Republic.”
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Addressing the former president, who was opposite him in the courtroom, Jean-François Bohnert said: “Like anyone, a former head of state has rights, but he also has a compelling duty to respect the law himself.” During cross-examination the previous day Nicolas Sarkozy said he had been persecuted by the PNF, among others; a traditional response of politicians in legal difficulties.
The PNF boss then sought to lay to rest the “harmful confusion” between this trial and the PNF's preliminary investigation into leaks, which the defence had bitterly attacked. That preliminary investigation, which opened in March 2014, had simply sought to find out who was leaking information about the main investigation, said Jean-François Bohnert. It had not led to any new phone taps, just an examination of phone records that lasted five hours. The case had been closed with no further action being taken, and that fact had been communicated to the defence before the trial began, even though this was not required under law, he said. This attracted grumbles from defence lawyers assembled on their bench.
Then prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon rose to his feet and took over. He pointed out that the telephone taps upon which the case is based are legal and were validated by the top appeal court the Cour de Cassation. Their legitimacy has not been undermined by any recent precedents nor by France's top courts nor by the European Court of Human Rights.
The prosecutor said that the intrinsic value of the conversations recorded in the phone tapes left no room for doubt. They were nothing like the unauthorised eavesdropping carried out on Edwy Plenel (publishing editor and co-founder of Mediapart), which the defence had described (based on his book 'Les Mots Volés' or 'Stolen Words'). “This concerns discussions, several series of conversations about an offence in the process of being committed, and not simple gossip,” he said. Using graphics displayed on a large screen he went through the chronology and the subject matter of the conversations, as well as the interactions between Azibert, Herzog and Sarkozy.
In 2013 Nicolas Sarkozy was the target of several judicial proceedings and was keen to stop his presidential diaries, which had been seized in the Bettencourt affair then handed over to the judges in the Tapie case, from being examined by other judges looking at cases which involved him. Going over the recorded conversations in detail, Jean-Luc Blachon said he aimed to show that there had been “infiltration” of the Cour de Cassation by Nicolas Sarkozy and Thierry Herzog to ensure that these diaries stayed out of the judges' hands.
The prosecutor set out the actions which he said ultimately all formed part of the same plan. These included the active intervention of Gilbert Azibert – who worked in the civil division of the court - with colleagues in the criminal division, the setting up of secret mobile telephone lines under the name of Paul Bismuth, the bogus conversations on the phone lines that Nicolas Sarkozy and Thierry Herzog knew were being eavesdropped by the judges, and the helping hand promised to Gilbert Azibert in reward for his efforts.
Then it was the turn of prosecutor Céline Guillet to argue the PNF's cause. She also displayed images on the large screen in the courtroom as she listed all the evidence and information that she said made the prosecution's case. The prosecutor picked up on a breach of professional confidentiality by Thierry Herzog (who gave a copy of the judgement of the judicial investigation chamber at the court of appeal in Bordeaux delivered in the Bettencourt affair to Gilbert Azibert), mocking in passing “Thierry Herzog's flexible attachment to professional confidentiality”. This caused a stir on the defence lawyers' becn.
Céline Guillet analysed in detail the efforts made by Gilbert Azibert to glean information on any developments concerning an appeal in the Bettencourt case. This case had not fallen under his own civil law jurisdiction - but had been of great interest to his friends Herzog and Sarkozy. “The Cour de Cassation's decision-making process was tainted,” she declared, going through all the unofficial contacts that took place with prosecutors and legal counsel in the court's criminal decision. “Gilbert Azibert communicated confidential information to Thierry Herzog for him to pass on to Nicolas Sarkozy,” continued the prosecutor. The recompense for Azibert was help in getting a comfortable post in Monaco with which to end his judicial career.
When it came to corruption and influence peddling, it was enough to show that there was a pact and a promise to intervene, Céline Guillet said. The fact that Gilbert Azibert did not in the end get the post he wanted did not change anything in law, especially as the legal authorities in Monaco had not shown great diligence over the issue and had in fact filled the position that Azibert coveted before the planned date. Nicolas Sarkozy himself had been in Monaco at that time and had just learnt that the 'Bismuth' phone line was also being tapped. “It looks like a rescue operation between friends,” said the prosecutor.
Jean-Luc Blachon then concluded the PNF's case by analysing the peddling of influence which, he said, went as far as trying to influence an advocate general and several legal counsel at the Cour de Cassation. And he ended by calling for Nicolas Sarkozy, Thierry Herzog and Gilbert Azibert to be found guilty on all charges. “When justice is not done it is a source of evil that doesn't go away,” warned the prosecutor. “We can't allow an ex-president to forget about the Republic,” he stated, having first set out the failings and transgressions of Thierry Herzog and Gilbert Azibert.
The PNF prosecutor noted the “devastating effect of this affair” on the country's institutions: the judiciary, the legal profession and the state itself. “These events have damaged the image of justice, of lawyers and of the president of the Republic,” he stated, before calling for prison sentences for the accused.
The defence were due to make their case on Wednesday and Thursday after which the court was expected to reserve judgement to a later date.
All three defendants deny the allegations.
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- The original French version of this article can be found here.
English version by Michael Streeter