FRANCE: Chirac's neigbours and politicans surprised at trial move against former French president.

Record ID: 838681

  • Title: FRANCE: Chirac's neigbours and politicans surprised at trial move against former French president.
  • Date: 31st October 2009
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 30, 2009) (REUTERS) VIEW OF RIVER SEINE VIEW FROM FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC'S APARTMENT BLOCK STREET SIGN ARMED POLICE ON GUARD BELOW APARTMENT BLOCK VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF CHIRAC'S APARTMENT EXTERIOR OF JEAN RENONCOURT FURNITURE SHOP (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHIRAC'S NEIGHBOUR AND OWNER OF JEAN RENONCOURT FURNITURE SHOP, JEAN RENONCOURT, SAYING: "I really can't see how you can put someone on trial 30 years after the event." (SOUNDBITE) (French) PASSER-BY, FREDERIC CHARBY, SAYING: "While he was president he fought corruption, but now it's falling on him." (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHIRAC'S NEIGHBOUR, GUILLAUME MULOT, SAYING: "I think it's a bit hard to have an opinion 25 years after the event. There are things that are more important -- possibly not for him, but for us there are things that are more important." (SOUNDBITE) (French) PASSER-BY, JEAN-BAPTISTE RUIZ, SAYING: "I think that if he's fiddled or made mistakes, then he should pay like any other French citizen. There's no reason. He's no longer the president and no longer has presidential immunity, so logically, if he has made mistakes, he should be judged just as anybody else." (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHIRAC'S NEIGHBOUR, ELIZABETH, SAYING: "There's no reason an ex-president should be exempt from the same duties as his fellow citizens. And in any case, if he's not guilty he'll be let go. That's my view. [Reporter question: Will this damage the image of France?] No, it shows that France is fair with all their citizens regardless of who they are." EXTERIORS OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY LOWER CHAMBER OF FRENCH PARLIAMENT VARIOUS INTERIORS OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BUILDING EDWIGE ANTIER, MEMBER OF PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY'S CENTRE-RIGHT UMP PARTY, SPEAKING TO MAN (SOUNDBITE) (French) MEMBER OF PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY'S CENTRE-RIGHT UMP PARTY, EDWIGE ANTIER, SAYING: "I think it's both terrible and pathetic that we should drag in this manner a president of our country in front of the courts for events that took place such a long time ago when there was a different view of our democracy. So I fear the wrong fight is being fought and that we're tarnishing our republic in this manner. I am sad for my country." MAN SITTING BEHIND DESK INSIDE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BUILDING MARISOL TOURAINE, SOCIALIST MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, SPEAKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (French) SOCIALIST MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, MARISOL TOURAINE, SAYING: "I think that in this affair there was no good solution. The judiciary has decided, now we've got to note that and hope the process takes place in the most serene manner and in the calmest manner possible, without any furious determination." TOURAINE SPEAKING TO REPORTER
  • Embargoed: 15th November 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • City:
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEBJ5LRHDC1MJ1JTAADDYIJ5CQ
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Neighbours of former French president Jacques Chirac are surprised at the news he will stand trial on embezzlement charges, an unprecedented move against a former French president.
    In the plush river-front neighbourhood where former French President Jacques Chirac has been living since leaving the presidency in 2007, his neighbours woke up on Friday (October 30) to the surprising news that he has been ordered to undergo trail on embezzlement charges dating back to his time as mayor of Paris.
    The move was an unprecedented action against a former French head of state.
    Chirac, 76, who was mayor of the French capital from 1977 until 1995, when he was elected president, is not certain to go on trial, as Paris public prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin had previously said there was no case against him.
    Marin is likely to appeal the decision by Magistrate Xaviere Simeoni, whose role is to investigate cases and decide whether suspects should face trial. Simeoni made the order over allegations that the Paris City Hall awarded contracts for non-existent jobs as favours to people who were politically useful to Chirac.
    Chirac's office said on Friday that he and nine others had been ordered to stand trial over 21 contracts.
    Chirac's legal woes have drawn mixed reactions from the French political class and French citizens. Both friends and foes seem torn between embarrassment at old business being dredged up and a need to uphold the principle that no one is above the law.
    "I really can't see how you can put someone on trial 30 years after the event," said Jean Renoncourt, Chirac's neighbour and owner of a local furniture shop.
    "While he was president he fought corruption, but now it's falling on him," said passer-by, Frederic Charby.
    Others felt the court action was a sign of French democracy and a system that does not play favour to politicians.
    "I think that if he's fiddled or made mistakes, then he should pay like any other French citizen. There's no reason. He's no longer the president and no longer has presidential immunity, so logically, if he has made mistakes, he should be judged just as anybody else," said passer-by, Jean-Baptiste Ruiz.
    The reaction among French politicians was as mixed as the streets.
    "I think it's both terrible and pathetic that we should drag in this manner a president of our country in front of the courts for events that took place such a long time ago when there was a different view of our democracy," said Edwige Antier, a member of President Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party.
    "So I fear the wrong fight is being fought and that we're tarnishing our republic in this manner. I am sad for my country," Antier added.
    "I think that in this affair there was no good solution. The judiciary has decided, now we've got to note that and hope the process takes place in the most serene manner and in the calmest manner possible, without any furious determination," said Marisol Touraine, Socialist member of parliament.
    Chirac, a conservative, enjoyed constitutional immunity during his 12 years as president, only to be hit by a flurry of legal problems after he stepped down in 2007.
    No former French head of state has been prosecuted for corruption, and a trial would be a public humiliation for a man who stood at the heart of French politics for four decades.
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