Prosecutors won’t appeal decision to try ex-French President Chirac in corruption scandal

Prosecutors won’t appeal decision to try Chirac

PARIS — Paris prosecutors said Wednesday they will not appeal a judge’s decision to order former French President Jacques Chirac to stand trial in an alleged corruption case that predated his presidency.

The case would mark the first time a former leader of modern France would be forced to defend himself in court.

If convicted, the conservative former leader could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined 150,000 euros ($221,800) and disqualified from public office for 10 years. However, observers have said a prison sentence would be highly unlikely.

On Friday, investigative Judge Xaviere Simeoni shocked France by deciding to try Chirac for embezzlement and breach of trust in a corruption case dating back to his 1977-1995 tenure as mayor of Paris. Simeoni has been probing whether people in Chirac’s circle were given sham jobs as advisers and paid by Paris City Hall, even though they weren’t working for it.

Following Friday’s decision, Chirac’s office denied the allegations. In a statement, it said that only 21 suspected phony jobs are still at issue, out of 481 probed by investigators.

On Wednesday, the 76-year-old leader continued to defend himself, telling Europe-1 radio he has “nothing to blame (him)self for” and is ready for his day in court.

“I will explain myself with serenity and determination so that the truth is established,” he said, adding he “took note of (Simeoni’s) decision, even though I contest her analysis.”

“The only thing that counts is justice,” he said.

For years, judges went after Chirac unsuccessfully in various corruption scandals, but he used his presidential immunity to keep them at arm’s length. Months after Chirac left office in 2007, Simeoni filed preliminary embezzlement charges against him.

The judge also ordered nine others to stand trial with Chirac. They include Michel Roussin, a chief of staff to Chirac at city hall, accused of complicity in breach of trust, and Jean de Gaulle, a grandson of former President Charles de Gaulle, who is suspected of having benefited from the phony jobs scheme.

Another member of Chirac’s entourage, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, also is having legal problems stemming from a separate case. Villepin is on trial on charges he orchestrated a smear campaign against Chirac’s successor, Nicolas Sarkozy. Villepin denies the charges.

Many in France are worried about how these and other cases involving high-profile French politicians will affect the country’s reputation abroad.

Since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958, no former French president has appeared in court.

Marshal Philippe Petain, who headed the 1940-1944 collaborationist Vichy regime, was found guilty of treason and imprisoned on an island off the Atlantic coast until his death in 1951.

Chirac also made headlines this week by releasing his memoir to the press. “Chaque pas doit etre un but” (Every Step Must Be a Goal) — a 500-page tome about his early life and the beginning of his political career — does not address his legal problems.

A second volume covering his 12 years as president is expected. Since he left France’s highest office in 2007, Chirac has retired from politics and heads a foundation that helps the developing world.