Appeal trial of "eavesdropping": "I come here to defend my honor", launches Nicolas Sarkozy

Clément Bargain, with AFP 7:41 p.m., December 05, 2022

"I have never corrupted anyone," former President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday, at the opening of the appeal trial in the "wiretapping" case, in which he is retried with his historic lawyer Thierry Herzog and ex-magistrate Gilbert Azibert.

Black suit and tie on a white shirt, the former head of state, 67, agreed to the usual checks before contesting, "with the greatest force", his guilt.

Three years in prison, one of which is closed at first instance

Prosecuted for "corruption" and "influence peddling", Nicolas Sarkozy is suspected of having undertaken, in 2014 and via Me Herzog, to support the candidacy of Gilbert Azibert for a prestigious post in Monaco, in return for interventions concerning a case then examined by the Court of Cassation.

At first instance, on March 1, 2021, the three defendants were sentenced to three years in prison, including one year.

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"I am a former President of the Republic, I have never corrupted anyone and let's admit that it is a strange corruption, without money - not a penny for anyone, without advantage - not a benefit for anyone, and without victim – since no one has been harmed”, he launched in a loud voice, in a crowded courtroom.

An honor "scorned in incredible conditions"

Resuming the key elements of his defense, he also thundered: "When one is innocent, one is indignant. I come here to defend my honor which has been violated in incredible conditions. I come to convince the court that I have nothing do".

Following him, Me Thierry Herzog, 67, said he wanted the court to be able to "give (his) honor".

For about four hours, the defense then castigated, as in the first instance, an "out of the ordinary" and "unfair" procedure, while the three defendants, seated in the front row, regularly nodded.

New fact, the recordings of the conversations between Nicolas Sarkozy and Me Herzog, base of the accusation, must be broadcast during this second trial, which must last until December 16.

The origins of the so-called "wiretapping" affair

The origin of this affair dates back to the end of 2013, when the two telephones of Nicolas Sarkozy, who left the Élysée the previous year, were "connected" by the judges in charge of the investigation into suspicions of Libyan financing of his campaign of 2007. The investigators then discovered the existence of a third line, unofficial, commissioned on January 11, 2014 under the alias "Paul Bismuth" and dedicated to exchanges between the ex-president and his lawyer.

In these conversations take shape, according to the prosecution, a pact of corruption tied with Gilbert Azibert, then general counsel at the Court of Cassation, accused of having worked behind the scenes to weigh on an appeal brought by Nicolas Sarkozy in the Bettencourt affair. , in exchange for a "boost" for an honorary position in Monaco.

In this case, "in substance as in form, we have witnessed things that we had never seen in the legal annals", pleaded Me Jacqueline Laffont, counsel for Nicolas Sarkozy.

Who would have informed Nicolas Sarkozy and Thierry Herzog?

The lawyer raised a priority question of constitutionality (QPC) concerning the secrecy of exchanges between a lawyer and his client - a secret that the defense has been wielding since the beginning.

Above all, she demanded the total annulment of the procedure, citing the existence of a parallel preliminary investigation, "hidden" from the defence, which "deprived" her of "exculpatory" evidence, thus violating "the 'equality of arms'.

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This investigation was opened in 2014 by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) in order to find the "mole" who allegedly informed Nicolas Sarkozy and Thierry Herzog that their "Bismuth" line was tapped.

In this context, the fadettes of many lawyers have been peeled, some geolocated.

It was finally dismissed at the end of 2019 and passed on to the defense in 2020.

Trial resumes Tuesday morning

This affair in the affair, known as the "fadettes", led by ricochet to the dismissal for trial of the current Keeper of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti, for having launched disciplinary proceedings against three financial magistrates.

"You are the last bastion" against a "serious dysfunction" of justice, pleaded Me Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard, one of Gilbert Azibert's lawyers, raising a second QPC on this subject.

The public prosecutor's office briefly asked the court to dismiss all of these arguments, stressing in particular that, according to the law, the request for cancellation was inadmissible because it was far too late.

The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning.