Sarko v Villepin in 'trial of the century'
Updated on 21 September 2009
Former French premier Dominique de Villepin goes on trial, accused of trying to smear President Nicolas Sarkozy. Jonathan Rugman reports.
It has been dubbed the trial of the decade in France - and is taking place in the same Paris courtroom where Queen Marie Antoinette was sentenced to death by guillotine.
Former prime minister Dominique de Villepin has gone on trial accused of trying to smear President Nicolas Sarkozy during his election campaign two years ago - by perpetuating bogus claims that he'd hidden bribe money in a Luxembourg bank account.
If found guilty, Villepin could face a five-year jail sentence.
Villepin won worldwide fame in 2003 with his impassioned speech at the UN against the US-led invasion of Iraq.
He faces a charge of “complicity in defamation and the use of forged documents”. Prosecutors say he planted the documents in a corruption investigation to discredit Sarkozy while the two men served together in government.
The alleged attempt to smear Nicolas Sarkozy dates back to the “Clearstream affair”, which surfaced in 2004 when a judge investigating a corruption case linked to an arms deal was sent documents anonymously which appeared to implicate prominent names, including Sarkozy.
The documents were subsequently unmasked as fake. Sarkozy cruised to victory in the 2007 French presidential elections, untainted by the scandal.
