Karachi case: before the court Balladur denounces a file based on "rumors"
Former Prime Minister Édouard Balladur arrives for his trial for corruption at the Court of Justice of the Republic in Paris, Tuesday, January 19, 2021. Alain JOCARD AFP
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3 min
On the second day of his trial for suspicion of hidden financing of his 1995 presidential campaign, Édouard Balladur spoke on Wednesday before the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR).
An introductory statement made by the former 91-year-old Prime Minister, who will be questioned on the merits later.
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With our special correspondent at the Paris courthouse,
Laura Martel
“
It is not a question of an anticipated plea
,” affirms Edouard Balladur from the outset.
However, the declaration that the former Prime Minister read in front of the court in a rather monotonous voice, for about twenty minutes, strongly resembles it.
“
I am in an unexpected, paradoxical situation.
I wanted to clean up our political life and I am criticized for having corrupted it
”, underlines Édouard balladur, who recalls having passed a law in 1995 to regulate the financing of electoral campaigns and above all, that his campaign accounts had been validated. by the Constitutional Council.
The funds came from "
collections
", "
donations
", absolutely no retrocommissions.
An explanation "
caricatured and mocked
" but which has "
never been contradicted by material elements"
he maintains.
And to hammer out that "
this affair is out of the ordinary
" by "
its duration
", by "
its violence
", by the "
fragility
" of the file, based, he says, on "
rumors
".
"
Out of the ordinary
" also by the "
sectarianism
" of a procedure led to charge and by the anchoring in the opinion of the thesis of his guilt as a "
historical truth
".
“
Is the evil irreparable?
»Asks Édouard Balladur.
“
I want to believe not
.
""
No illegality can be blamed on me.
"The court, he points out, has before it"
a difficult task, that of resisting the training of public opinion
.
"
I hope that after 30 years, they will do me justice
", concludes the former Prime Minister, who launches before sitting down: "
Yes, I have confidence in the truth.
"
►
Read also: Karachi case: on the first day of his trial, Édouard Balladur refuses to speak
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