FORMER French President Jacques Chirac was found guilty yesterday on corruption charges stemming from his time as mayor of Paris and given a two year suspended sentence, a court in the French capital announced.
Chirac was convicted of breach of trust, misappropriation of public funds and illegal use of influence, the Paris Court’s media office said.
It was uncertain whether Chirac, 79, would appeal the verdict, a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) stated.
“We have to talk about it with the person concerned,” said his attorney, Georges Kiejman. “We’ll know tonight if he accepts this decision or if on the contrary he wants to appeal,” Kiejman added.
Chirac was mayor of Paris, from 1977 to 1995, before he became president.
He had immunity from prosecution during the 12 years he was president of France, from 1995 to 2007.
He was accused – along with the other defendants – of using public money to pay people to work for his political party, the RPR, and to pay others to perform jobs that did not really exist.
Former French Prime Minister Alain Juppe was sentenced in December 2004 for his role in the affair.
After Chirac left office as president, he made it known he was available to answer any questions on the matter. He always denied wrongdoing.
Some in France praised the court’s decision.
“Finally, the justice of the Republic has come,” said a post from Pierre-Marie Muraz on the French newspaper Le Monde’s website.
It shows that “no, we are not a banana republic, but a democracy, and we are proud of it!”
Others were not pleased. “Who are we kidding? Let’s review: Politician and union leaders have flouted the country’s rules for years, enriching themselves and betraying the trust of their citizens, and when 20 years later we relax, we hand out a penalty or a suspended sentence, a certain political class and the complacent media congratulate themselves on the exemplary justice!” posted someone with the user name “pas dupe” - which means “not fooled” in English.
culled from Guardian
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