Nicolas Sarkozy and his political allies have been celebrating the decision by judges to drop proceedings against him in relation to the Bettencourt affair. But in their official judgement the two examining magistrates make clear they nonetheless regard the former president's behaviour towards the elderly and frail L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt to be 'abusive'. Mediapart here publishes extracts from a ruling whose tough language throws into context Sarkozy's claim that he has been declared 'innocent'. Michel Deléan reports.
After a long and politically explosive legal saga, the proceedings against Nicolas Sarkozy in relation to the Bettencourt affair have been dropped. The former president, who had denied any wrongdoing, had faced allegations that he took advantage of the mental frailty of L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt to get cash for his 2007 election campaign. But on Monday the investigating magistrates in charge of this high-profile case decided not to send the former president to court to face charges. Allies believe this clears the path to his return to French politics. However ten others, including former employment minister and ex-UMP treasurer Éric Woerth, are to stand trial over the Bettencourt affair. Michel Deléan reports.
In a much-awaited decision, the Bordeaux court of appeal has ruled that former French president Nicolas Sarkozy should remain under investigation for exploiting L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt’s dementia to obtain funds for his 2007 election campaign. The court threw out Sarkozy’s appeal along with several others lodged by fellow suspects cited in the case, and which included a demand that the investigating magistrates should be removed from the case for reason of their alleged impartiality. The ruling announced on Tuesday means Sarkozy could now face trial on the charge of ‘abuse of weakness’, about which a decision is expected within weeks. Michel Deléan reports.
The Bettencourt affair has reached an unprecedented scope among the many scandals that have rocked France in recent decades. As a judicial ruling ordering the censorship of Mediapart’s reporting of the scandal kicks in this Monday evening, Michel Deléan dresses a summary of the judicial investigations into the affair which, over the past three years, have exposed a bed of political corruption and influence peddling, a record back payment in taxes on assets secretly stashed abroad, not to mention the outrageous antics of a high-society cabal and the sordid exploitation of one of Europe’s wealthiest individuals.
After his accounts were rejected by France's top constitutional court, the former president resigned from that body, to enable him to 'speak freely' on the issue. He and his supporters claim the ruling - the first of its kind - is 'unfair'. Meanwhile, as Mathilde Mathieu reports, the main opposition party the UMP now has to find 11 million euros to avoid potential financial ruin.
As widely expected, the prosecutor in Bordeaux says that 'in the absence of evidence' there should be no further action taken against the former president over claims that he took advantage of the billionaire’s mental frailty to obtain funds for his 2007 election campaign. But, as Michel Deléan reports, the three examining magistrates in charge of this high-profile and controversial case could still decide to send Nicolas Sarkozy to stand trial.
