Former Prime Minister Edouard Balladur, 91, appeared on Tuesday before the Court of Justice of the Republic alongside François Léotard, where he is on trial for suspicion of secret financing of his 1995 presidential campaign. did not wish to speak on the first day of the hearing.

It's time to explain.

Twenty-five years later, the trial of Edouard Balladur for suspicion of secret financing of his 1995 presidential campaign, one of the components of the sprawling Karachi affair, opened on Tuesday.

The former Prime Minister is tried there alongside his former Minister of Defense (1993-1995), François Léotard, before the Court of Justice of the Republic.

Balladur's note taking 

In a dark gray suit and red tie, Edouard Balladur arrived shortly before 2 p.m. at the Paris courthouse.

He paused for a moment to observe the swarm of reporters, before walking slowly into the courtroom without making a statement.

Despite his age, 91, the former prime minister attended without apparent fatigue the procedural arguments made by his lawyer, sometimes pulling a fountain pen out of his jacket to take notes.

He even planned to make an opening statement on Wednesday, the second day of the hearing.

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As for François Léotard, 78, who had initially let it be known that he could not come, being ill, he was present at the opening of the hearing, but without a lawyer.

"This is my honor, I will defend it myself," said the person in a decided tone.

In a fleece jacket, leather jacket resting on his chair back, he sat to the left of his former head of government and was conspicuously reading a book before the arrival of the Court.

He had taken with him two works,

Antigone

 by Bertolt Brecht and 

Oedipus on the road

by Henry Bauchau.

The former Minister of Defense of Edouard Balladur has also added elements for his defense in the file: long writings in literary style. 

His refusal to speak on the first day of the hearing

At the end of a long summary of this "voluminous" file, at the end of the day, the Court tries to hear for the first time Edouard Balladur.

But this last one makes "no" of the index: "I will come back tomorrow if you want it well and I will have a lot of things to say about what I heard".

And to add: "In such a complicated matter, I would suggest that the use of the conditional be used more often".

The lawyers of the ex-tenant of Matignon recall that his doctors recommended him "not to stay more than two hours at the hearing". 

The two defendants, who deny any offense, promised to "answer the questions" of the three professional magistrates and the twelve parliamentarians making up the Court.

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A trial until February 11 

For the prosecution, Edouard Balladur set up during his two years at Matignon, with François Léotard, a system of illegal retro-commissions on major armament contracts with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan intended to partly supply his campaign accounts.

After failing to have the statute of limitations recognized, the former Prime Minister is tried for "complicity" and "concealment" of abuse of corporate assets.

François Léotard is sent back to him for "complicity", which he also denies. 

They must appear until February 11 before the CJR, a half-judicial half-political court, and the only one empowered to try former members of the government for offenses committed in the exercise of their functions.

Composed of three magistrates and twelve parliamentarians, the CJR is meeting for only the eighth time in its 28 years of existence.

In total, she pronounced three acquittals, two exemptions from the sentence and three suspended sentences.