Karachi case: one year suspended prison sentence required against Édouard Balladur
Edouard Balladur upon his arrival in court on January 20, 2021. AP
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Twenty-five years later, the Attorney General of the Republic requested this Tuesday a year of suspended prison sentence and a 50,000 euro fine against former Prime Minister Édouard Balladur in the financial aspect of the Karachi affair, estimating that ' he knew "the fraudulent origin" of the financing of his presidential campaign.
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Judged since January 19 by the Court of Justice of the Republic, Édouard Balladur and François Léotard were not present this Tuesday to listen to the requisitions of the public prosecutor.
The ex-prime minister, 91, and his former defense minister, 78, are accused of having set up a system of retrocommissions on major arms contracts with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, intended to partly finance the - unsuccessful - campaign of Mr. Balladur in the 1995 presidential election.
But the Attorney General François Molins recognizes it from the start: the hearings have brought almost nothing.
"These five half-days can give rise to a feeling of unease and a taste of unfinished business, the impression of having approached only the tip of the iceberg," he admits.
Admittedly, the facts are more than 25 years old, some witnesses died or did not come, but François Molins especially calls into question the attitude of the two defendants.
"It is unfortunate that the defendants did not tell the truth when they obviously know it," he laments, they who have chosen "to avoid the questions by remaining in generalities", such as Edouard Balladur assumed it, or by launching himself like François Léotard "into politico-diplomatic digressions unrelated to the facts".
It is therefore not on these hearings, during which "
we heard everything and its opposite
" that the court must decide, he warns, but on the file "
which must allow to override the strategies of denial and avoidance.
"
For the prosecutor, the file, precisely, "
leaves no room for doubt
": Édouard Balladur certainly did not set up the system of intermediaries, exorbitant commissions and illegal retro-commissions on armament contracts, but in any case, "
he could not ignore the fraudulent origin of the funds which fueled his campaign
".
As for François Léotard, his role was “
much more important in the introduction and payment
” of this network of intermediaries that he “
knew useless
”, estimates François Molins.
For these reasons, the Attorney General requested a one-year suspended prison sentence and a 50,000 euro fine against the former Prime Minister and the double against François Léotard.
The hearing resumes this Wednesday with the arguments of the defense of Edouard Balladur
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