Paris, February 19, 2021. Edouard Balladur, 91, arrives before the Court of Justice of the Republic which judges him for the hidden financing of his 1995 campaign. -

Alain JOCARD / AFP

  • The Court of Justice of the Republic judges, until February 11, Édouard Balladur and François Léotard for "complicity in the abuse of social good" and "concealment".

  • Twenty-five years later, they are accused of having financed the presidential campaign of 1995 with hidden funds taken from arms contracts with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

  • Édouard Balladur, 91, has always denied the facts, explaining that the cash payments to his campaign account came from donations from individuals.

At the Court of Justice of the Republic,

Sitting on his chair upright as moral, Édouard Balladur looked rather in shape, from the top of his 91 years.

Putting on his glasses to reread a document.

Noting a sentence with the tip of his clawed fountain pen.

Listening attentively to the reminder of the facts.

But shortly before 6 pm, when he was finally invited to speak, the former Prime Minister got up, finally gathered his things and closed the ban: “I will come back tomorrow.

And I would have a lot of things to say… ”

In front of him, Dominique Pauthe, the president of the Court of Justice of the Republic, remained banned for a few seconds.

He tried his luck again.

"You… you really don't want to express yourself now?"

"But no, Édouard Balladur repeated:" No, no, I will come back tomorrow ".

Thus setting himself the schedule of his own trial for hidden financing in the so-called Karachi case ... “His doctor estimates that he can attend two hours of hearing.

We have largely exceeded them ”, soberly indicated Félix de Belloy, one of his three lawyers.

A journey through time to 1995

More than twenty-five years after the events, the former “friend of thirty years” of Jacques Chirac may well make President Pauthe and the twelve parliamentarians who assist him wait one more day.

But his attitude already says a lot about how he intends to respond to the accusations against him.

If he refused to talk about the substance, he still allowed himself to "suggest" a little thing to the magistrates: "that the conditional be used more frequently".

The remark was aimed directly at President Pauthe, who spent the afternoon recalling the facts which made Edouard Balladur appear for “complicity in the abuse of corporate assets” before the only body capable of judging the ministers for the acts committed during their terms of office.

A journey back in time to 1995. A time when Celine Dion sang

Pour que tu m'aime encore

, where

Braveheart

reigned in cinemas and FC Nantes over the French football championship.

François Léotard prefers to defend himself alone

It is also the year when the right presented two candidates on the starting line of the presidential election.

Including Édouard Balladur, accused therefore of having benefited from retrocommissions on the sidelines of the armament contracts to finance his campaign.

Dirty money, in short.

He has always denied the facts, arguing that the cash transfers to his account came from donations made by individuals.

But the magistrates wonder about the concomitance of these discounts with the withdrawal of cash made through Ziad Takieddine in Geneva.

Elegant in a double-breasted suit, Edouard Balladur is not the only one concerned by these accusations.

On the other side of the corridor, in a simple black zipped sweater, François Léotard, his former Minister of Defense, accompanies him to justice.

And he too set the tone for what his defense will be.

Without a lawyer.

“This is my honor.

I will defend it alone!

"

From this Wednesday therefore.

His questioning is in fact scheduled just after Edouard Balladur's speech, scheduled for 2 p.m.

Their trial is due to last until February 11.

Justice

Karachi case: Twenty-five years later, Édouard Balladur tried for hidden financing

Politics

Death of Jacques Chirac: The political enmities of "Chichi"

  • Justice

  • Funding

  • Pakistan

  • Karachi case

  • Elections

  • Francois Leotard

  • edouard balladur

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  • Jacques Chirac

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