PARIS: France will judge former 90-year-old former Prime Minister Edouard Balladur on claims that he used bribes from a 1990s arms sale to fund a failed presidential offer, the country's chief prosecutor said on Tuesday.
Balladur joins a long list of high-ranking French politicians persecuted for alleged financial irregularities, including former deceased president Jacques Chirac, Chirac's successor, Nicolas Sarkozy, and two other former prime ministers.
On the same day, another court ordered former President Nicolas Sarkozy to be tried for illegal campaign financing, which adds to his legal problems while also preparing to respond to charges of exerting pressure on a judge.
Sarkozy, 64, lost his final appeal to the highest criminal court, and runs the risk of one year in prison and a fine of 3,750 euros ($ 4,085) if convicted.
Edouard Balladur, the former conservative prime minister, will be tried by the Court of Justice of the Republic, a court dedicated to hear cases of ministerial misconduct, Attorney General Francois Molins announced.
Balladur and former defense minister Francois Leotard, 77, were accused in 2017 of "complicity in the misuse of corporate assets" for the sale of submarines to Pakistan and frigates to Saudi Arabia when Balladur was prime minister, between 1993 and 1995.
The recoil claims arose during the investigation of the Karachi attack in 2002 directed to a bus with French engineers
Bribes are estimated at about 13 million francs (almost two million euros in today's money), which are suspected to include a cash donation to the Balladur presidential campaign in 1995 of just over 10 million francs, Molins said it's a statement.
Balladur also has to respond to a charge that he hid the crimes.
The claims came to light during an investigation into a 2002 bombing in Karachi that pointed to a bus carrying French engineers.
Fifteen people died, including 11 engineers working on the underwater contract.
Initially, Al Qaeda was suspected of the attack, but then focused on the arms business, as investigators considered whether the bombing could have been a revenge for the default of bribes promised after Chirac sent Balladur in the vote and cancel payment of commissions.
"Opaque network"
Former Defense Minister Leotard is accused of having created an "opaque network" that underpins the weapons contracts signed with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia under the Balladur government.
The former prime minister, in turn, is accused of instructing the budget ministry to approve state guarantees for "deficient or underfunded" contracts, due to the alleged bribes, reads Molins' statement.
Balladur's lawyers said Tuesday that he was "sure" that he would be acquitted of any wrongdoing, "since he never committed any of the acts of which he is accused."
On other occasions, he denied knowledge of commissions or bribes and said he was not responsible for the "details" of the financing of his presidential campaign.
Others close to Balladur, including his campaign manager Nicolas Bazire, senior official Thierry Gaubert who worked for the then budget minister Sarkozy and the controversial Franco-Lebanese businessman, Ziad Takieddine, will be tried in the same case later this month.
Case against Sarkozy
Prosecutors say Sarkozy spent almost 43 million euros ($ 40 million) in his failed 2012 re-election offer, almost double the legal limit of 22.5 million euros, using fake invoices.
He said he was not aware of the fraud committed by executives of public relations firm Bygmalion, who are among 13 others persecuted in the case.
Sarkozy's lawyer, Emmanuel Piwnica, called the ruling of the appeals court a "disappointment."
Since losing elections to Francois Hollande of the Socialist Party and leaving office, Sarkozy has fought a barrage of corruption and campaign finance charges, all of which he rejects.
The former Republican party leader faces another trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling about his alleged attempts to try to obtain information from a judge about an investigation centered on him.
And he has been accused of accusations of having accepted millions of euros from the late Libyan ruler Moamer Qadhafi towards his first presidential campaign in 2007.
Posted on Dawn, October 2, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1508503/former-french-pm-faces-trial-over-pakistan-arms-deal