Posted on 09/03/2011 7:47:08 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Ex-French President Jacques Chirac says he is not in a fit state to attend his corruption trial, reports say.
He has asked the Paris court for his lawyers be allowed to represent him, AFP news agency has reported.
Mr Chirac, 78, is accused of embezzling public funds in the 1990s, when he was mayor of Paris. He denies the charges.
The trial is due to start on Monday, having been adjourned in March after a co-defendant argued that some of the charges were unconstitutional.
In a letter to the Paris court on Friday, the former leader wrote that he wanted his trial to go ahead "even if he no longer has the full ability to participate in hearings", said a statement from Mr Chirac's lawyers.
"In the letter... he requested that his lawyers be able to represent him and carry his voice during these hearings," said the statement.
A copy of the former president's medical records was enclosed in the letter, it added.
French media described Mr Chirac as tired during a holiday in St Tropez last month, although he reportedly signed autographs and posed for pictures with tourists.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
This supports suggestions from friends of the ex-president that in recent months he has been suffering from memory lapses.
While the letter is an informal request, it is within the judge's powers to accept it, or request a second medical opinion.
The letter could result in the trial being delayed, and possibly postponed indefinitely if it is deemed that Mr Chirac is no longer able to talk with any reliability about things that happened more than 20 years ago.
He has ‘Hillary’ syndrome.. ‘I don’t recall’.. ‘My mind is jello’..
It’s good to be king, or at least think you are one.
Ah yes, the Feeble Old Man Defense. The lawyer’s best friend. They’ve used in the Demjanjuk trial, they used it with Pinochet in Chile, they’re using it with Mubarak in Egypt, and now they’re using it here.
Reminds me of "Waldheimer's disease" where Kurt Waldheim couldn't remember that he was a Nazi war criminal.
Or how about when that old hack Bill Moyer couldn’t remember anything about the time Lyndon Johnson put him to the task of finding out if any of his staff/advisors were gay.
And to think the lefties cared what he said about America after 9/11.
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