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Nicolas Sarkozy 'held for questioning' by police Nicolas Sarkozy 'held for questioning' by police: Former French President condemns ‘Stasi’ tactics behind his arrest
(about 7 hours later)
The former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is being held for questioning over suspected "influence peddling". France is in shock after Nicolas Sarkozy became the first former French President to be detained for questioning by anti-corruption police, threatening a widely anticipated political comeback.
Mr Sarkozy, who was President from 2007 to 2012, arrived early on Tuesday to be quizzed by investigators at their offices in Nanterre, west of Paris, after his lawyer and two senior attorney-generals were held for questioning on Monday. Mr Sarkozy has been accused of multiple illegal dealings, mostly linked to the financing of his 2007 and 2012 election campaigns, and has so far escaped conviction. But this is the most serious case against him as it concerns the possible perversion of justice. His detention comes as he was considering a return to frontline politics ahead of the next presidential elections in 2017.
It follows allegations that he received leaked details of an inquiry into alleged irregularities in his 2007 election campaign. The former President, 59, turned himself in at the police unit headquarters in Nanterre, outside Paris, this morning where he was placed under arrest for alleged influence-peddling. Mr Sarkozy defended himself because his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, was arrested on Monday along with two senior judges.
"Mr Sarkozy has been summoned to Nanterre and is being held for questioning," the source told the Reuters news agency. The former President and his lawyer are suspected of illegally cultivating a network of informants within France’s top court, the Cour de Cassation, and the police.
Asked about the matter, French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said Mr Sarkozy was "subject to justice just like everyone else". Mr Sarkozy is accused of promising one of the magistrates, Gilbert Azibert, a prestigious job in Monaco in return for information that could help his defence in a case in which he was accused of abuse of frailty by allegedly soliciting money from L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. The preliminary criminal charges against Mr Sarkozy in that case were dropped by a Bordeaux court last October.
"Justice authorities are investigating and have to go all the way," he told i The alleged influence-peddling and establishment of a network of informants came to light during phone-tapping by police who were investigating allegations that Mr Sarkozy sought €50m from the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi,  for his 2007 election campaign, which the former President denies. The online newspaper Médiapart published details of wiretaps in March in which the ex-head of state, using the fake identity of Paul Bismuth on a mobile phone, seemed to be aware of forthcoming legal action in connection with the Bettencourt case. In one taped conversation, according to Médiapart, Azibert is heard telling Mr Sarkozy: “I’ll call my correspondent because they have to go through him.”
Local media say it is the first time a former head of state has been held for questioning in modern French history, although his predecessor, Jacques Chirac was handed a suspended sentence for embezzlement and breach of trust while he was mayor of Paris in 2011. Mr Sarkozy has proclaimed his innocence and compared the phone taps to operations by the Stasi in former East Germany.
His allies have quickly rushed to his support, with Christian Estrosi, the mayor of the southern city of Nice, tweeting: "Never has any former president been the victim of such treatment, such an outburst of hatred.” Investigating magistrates were expected to organise a face-to-face encounter of the four suspects in Nanterre. Mr Azibert’s lawyer Jose Allegrini said that the police questioning was “polite” but he complained about the undignified treatment of his client, a senior attorney-general with the Cour de Cassation who was “bundled off at dawn” after being arrested at his home in Bordeaux. The other judge, Patrick Sassouste, also with the Cour de Cassation, was arrested in Paris.
The case is one of six legal cases involving Sarkozy either directly or indirectly, including more recent allegations of irregularities in his unsuccessful 2012 election campaign. Mr Sarkozy’s supporters in his centre-right UMP party mobilised to denounce his arrest as a witch-hunt, and several noted that he had been “cleared” in connection with the Bettencourt case. Others pointed to the suspicious coincidence inquiries were opened on the former President every time he was rumoured to be about to make a political comeback. The government “doesn’t go after delinquents with the same zeal as this,” said Daniel Fasquelle, a parliamentary deputy.
The current questioning relates to suspicions he used his influence to get information on an investigation into funding irregularities in his victorious 2007 election campaign. But support from heavyweights in the UMP was muted. They blame him for practically bankrupting the party which received a hefty fine for overspending in 2012. Stéphane le Foll, the Socialist government spokesman, told iTélé that “justice is investigating and must follow its course. Sarkozy is answerable just like anyone else.”
In October a court dropped inquiries into whether he had exploited the mental frailty of France's richest woman, L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, to fund that campaign. Under French law, the former President, who no longer has immunity from prosecution, can be held for a maximum 48 hours after which he must be set free or charged. Active influence peddling carries a 10-year jail penalty and a €1m fine.
Ms Bettencourt, 91, is France's richest woman. She was diagnosed with dementia in 2006. Mr Sarkozy, who has irritated some in his party for allowing aides to hint of a return without following through, had let it be known that he would decide over the summer whether to launch a bid to return as party leader. There has been talk of the UMP reinventing itself under a new name following the forced resignation of it leader Jean-François Copé last month. He stepped down amid a scandal over inflated invoices from a communications agency, apparently used for Sarkozy’s campaign financing in 2012, and is expected to be questioned.
But as investigators used phone-taps to examine separate allegations that late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi funded the same campaign, they began to suspect he had kept tabs on the case through a network of informants. At the very least Mr Sarkozy’s reputation has been severely tarnished by his detention. His puppet, renamed Paul Bismuth, regularly appears on a daily satirical television show, Les Guignols de l’info which will have plenty more material with which to poke fun at him after today’s dramatic events.
Those suspicions finally prompted the formal launching of yet another investigation into influence-peddling in February. The leader of the UMP parliamentary group, Christian Jacob, said he was convinced that the former President “will come out with his head held high after this experience”. But Mr Sarkozy’s former Prime Minister, François Fillon, confided to French media that “Sarkozy will never come back, because of the scandals”.
It is alleged that he was kept informed of proceedings against him while a decision was made over whether his work diaries, which were seized as part of the funding inquiry, should be kept in the hands of the authorities.
The Court of Cassation ruled in March 2014 that the diaries should not be returned. Investigators now believe he was informed his phone was being bugged as part of inquiry.
The conservative politician denies wrongdoing in the string of investigations which could derail his hopes of a come-back after his 2012 presidential election defeat by Francois Hollande.
Investigators can hold him for an initial period of 24 hours, but can add another day onto the custody period.