"You are not the image of tranquility": at the end of the afternoon, the president of the Paris Court of Appeal addresses, amused, Nicolas Sarkozy, who ends a long diatribe at the bar to defend themselves from any "corruption pact".
Judged on appeal since December 5, the former head of state is suspected of having promised, via his lawyer Thierry Herzog, a "boost" to the high magistrate Gilbert Azibert, in exchange for confidential information on a appeal he had lodged with the Court of Cassation.
At the heart of this file, conversations between Mr. Herzog and Mr. Sarkozy recorded on an open line in the name of "Paul Bismuth", dedicated to exchanges between the two men.
On the last day of the interrogation of the three defendants, the debates focused on the reasons for a trip by Me Herzog, on February 25, 2014, to Monaco: two conversations held the next day suggested to the investigators that, on that day , the lawyer learned that the "Bismuth" line was tapped.
In an exchange on the "unofficial" line and then on the "official" line, Nicolas Sarkozy declares that he did not "take the step" for Gilbert Azibert, whereas he had so far undertaken to give him a helping hand".
Thierry Herzog and Nicolas Sarkozy report on this trip to Monaco by referring to another case: that of the discussions recorded by a former Elysée adviser, Patrick Buisson.
Thierry Herzog, former lawyer for Nicolas Sarkozy, leaves the Paris courthouse on the second day of the appeal trial in the wiretapping case, December 7, 2022 © Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP/Archives
The lawyer affirms at the bar that day that he had a "conversation with a journalist" who had told him that extracts were going to be published in the press, concerning the ex-president and his wife, Carla Bruni.
"Simulacra"
A case that "is going to be a deflagration" required a verbal discussion, argues the lawyer, who adds that he had to come anyway to see the former president and his family "in cure" on the "Rock".
The "strict purpose" of this trip was to talk about the Buisson affair, then abounds Nicolas Sarkozy.
If his lawyer travels, he says, it is "to see (his) wife", "embarked" in a case "which will cause a stir in the media" because of Patrick Buisson, a "sinister individual", who is "came to dinner with us harnessed with microphones".
In the room, Carla Bruni nods her head in approval.
"We are taken by the throat, stunned, arms and legs cut off", assures Mr. Sarkozy in a cavernous voice, adding that, for Thierry Herzog, "it is not a question of coming to Acapulco (but) of coming to his home" in Nice, not far from Monaco.
Former senior magistrate Gilbert Azibert arrives at the Paris courthouse for the appeal trial in the wiretapping case, December 7, 2022 © Alain JOCARD / AFP/Archives
"I'm a thousand miles from imagining that Bismuth is listened to!"
he throws.
The former president then recalls the preliminary investigation opened by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) to identify a possible "mole" who would have informed Me Herzog.
"What did they find? Nothing!"
he protests, recalling that the investigation was closed without further action.
"If I had any information, it's a sham. If I didn't have it, I'm telling the truth", he concludes, repeating "never, never, never" having "taken the step ".
On March 3, however, Thierry Herzog told Gilbert Azibert on the telephone that "the approach to Monaco has been made".
Then he adds that he wants to tell him later "the last incident", even if there is "nothing urgent".
"We had to say certain things on the phone (...) because we learned certain things".
"By telling him that, I'm lying to him," assures Me Herzog, asserting that he "didn't want to hurt him" and intended to tell him later, "in person", that Nicolas Sarkozy had given up the "coup de inch".
"The last incident" is for him the Buisson affair: he affirms that he was afraid that the conversations would come out one day in the press and that Gilbert Azibert would then learn that the president had "unkind words towards (his) respect ".
© 2022 AFP