Forced to testify at the Elysee polls trial, Nicolas Sarkozy plays appeasement

Europe 1 with AFP 5:43 p.m., October 20, 2021, modified at 5:44 p.m., October 20, 2021

The strategy is appeasement: the day after his summons as a witness at the Elysee polls trial, Nicolas Sarkozy explained on Wednesday that the police "did not need" to intervene to have him testify . "The police are quite busy, no need to take care of me, I have always responded to the summons that have been sent to me," said the former head of state on the sidelines of a signing session in Lyon, after the Paris court ordered his forced appearance on November 2.

Faced with a few journalists, the former President of the Republic did not however explicitly confirm his presence in court on November 2, specifying that he would "have the opportunity to say what (he) would do calmly". "I do not respond to provocations (...) You have to be calm, not to be passionate, not to upset things. There is a constitution, there are laws and you have to respect them, it is the only thing I ask, "continued Nicolas Sarkozy between two dedications of his last essay, 

(ed. Herscher), in a bookstore in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon. "We know how to find me and therefore do not feed the media circus, just stay calm," urged the former president.

A "necessary" testimony according to the court

Quoted at the trial by the Anticor association, at the origin of the Elysee polls affair, the former head of state had indicated in a letter addressed to the court that he did not hear "at all comply with this summons ".

However, the court considers "that the testimony of Nicolas Sarkozy is indeed (...) necessary for the manifestation of the truth" and that it is "likely to have an influence on the facts alleged against the defendants", explained Tuesday the president Benjamin Blanchet.

According to the Constitution, the Head of State is covered by criminal immunity for acts performed during his mandate, but the supreme text "does not prevent a former president from being heard as a witness", recalled the magistrate.

Since Monday and for four weeks, five former relatives of Nicolas Sarkozy, including the former secretary general of the presidency Claude Guéant, have been tried for suspicion of favoritism and embezzlement of public funds, linked to consulting and polling contracts between 2007 and 2012.