Mr Chirac did not attend the trial because he suffers from memory lapses
Posted on 12/15/2011 9:40:25 AM PST by NormsRevenge
A French court has given former President Jacques Chirac a two-year suspended prison sentence for diverting public funds and abusing public trust.
Mr Chirac, 79, was not in court to hear the verdict because of ill-health but denied wrongdoing.
President from 1995 to 2007, he was put on trial on charges that dated back to his time as mayor of Paris.
He was accused of paying members of his Rally for the Republic (RPR) party for municipal jobs that did not exist.
The prosecution had urged the judge to acquit Mr Chirac and nine others accused in the trial. Two of the nine were cleared. The other seven were found guilty and all but one handed suspended prison sentences.
Jean de Gaulle, grandson of former President Charles de Gaulle, was handed a three-month suspended term while former union leader Marc Blondel, 73, was convicted but escaped a sentence. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
For those expecting the case to be thrown out or at least no penalty, the ruling may appear disappointing”
Georges Kiejman Chirac lawyer Marshal Petain
In 2004, during his presidency, several figures including France's current Foreign Minister Alain Juppe were convicted in connection with the case.
Mr Juppe was given a 14-month suspended sentence.
Jacques Chirac, mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, is the first former French head of state to be convicted since Marshal Philippe Petain, the leader of the wartime Vichy regime, was found guilty in 1945 of collaborating with the Nazis.
The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris said the verdict would be seen as a stain on Mr Chirac's character.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Mr Chirac did not attend the trial because he suffers from memory lapses
Thanks NormsRevenge.
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Sad about Chirac. He was rooted in payola & corruption while Mayor of Paris. Greater still his involvement with Saddam, his close ties to Arab potentates & the oil for food scandal. Widely known in France as “Jacques Iraq” & “Black Jack” (for oil).
Guilty with suspended sentences are the rule in France, not the exception.
Former French president Jacques Chirac was given a two-year suspended jail sentence on Thursday after he was convicted of embezzling public money to finance his political party.
Sentenced for creating fake civil service jobs while he was mayor of Paris between 1977 and 1995, Chirac is the first former French President to be convicted of a criminal offence since the Second World War.
In 2004, former French Prime Minister and current Foreign Minister Alain Juppé was found guilty of mishandling public funds in the same case and given a suspended sentence.
Alain Juppé still has big political ambitions. He is a brilliant politician, and very popular. The French don’t seem to care about honesty & integrity in office. La magouille, les pots du vin, all considered SOP. If they thought he could beat Sarko, they would take back DSK!
You pretty much said what I was going to say. Chirac was at the forefront of France’s delusional cooperation with Muslims for the sake of power, prestige, and oil. He wasn’t the only one to do it, but he was certainly among the most corrupt.
And I think he played a key role in driving Turkey back into the hands of the Islamists, after a century of relative freedom since the time of Kemal Attaturk, because he was so desperate to block Bush from invading Iraq.
“He was accused of paying members of his Rally for the Republic (RPR) party for municipal jobs that did not exist”
l’Acorn?
“suspended prison “
Meaning he got off free of any consequences.
Taking care of their own.
Say it's not so!
L’Acorn, or The Sopranos, both a bunch of crooked slackers. The “No Show, No Work” episode of The Sopranos is hilarious!
A shame he avoids prison.
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