Mr. Balkany, 74, who was mayor of Levallois for thirty years (between 1983 and 1995 and 2001-2020) and deputy, appeared thin, features drawn, when he arrived at the court.
His wife Isabelle was not present before the 14th chamber of the Nanterre Criminal Court.
The former baron of Hauts-de-Seine was incarcerated twice as part of a conviction for tax fraud: for five months in prison in 2019-2020 and between February and August 2022.
"Prison is very hard, very difficult (...) It's hell to be there, you can't sleep, until two in the morning it screams, it hits. For a man my age or anyone it's difficult," he told reporters on his release from prison.
His wife and former first deputy, aged 75, has never been incarcerated.
At the beginning of March, she was granted conditional release. Her husband said in late February that she was suffering from pancreatic cancer.
In Nanterre, Tuesday, the couple is tried for "use, conservation or disclosure of a document or recording relating to words or images of a sexual nature and obtained by an invasion of the privacy of others".
They are accused of having distributed in February 2021 this photomontage in order to harm David-Xavier Weiss, the current first deputy mayor of Levallois, Agnès Pottier-Dumas, former ally turned political opponent of the Balkany.
David-Xavier Weiss, February 18, 2020 in Paris © JOEL SAGET / AFP/Archives
Since their departure from the town hall of Levallois in 2020, the Balkany have multiplied criticism on social networks against Agnès Pottier-Dumas, and her team.
During the investigation, the respondents explained that they found the photos in an envelope in a mailbox and then sent them to several people, including Agnès Pottier-Dumas, to warn her.
A few days later, Mr. Weiss filed a complaint for disclosure of a sexual document.
Patrick Balkany is also currently being prosecuted, notably for "misuse of company assets" and "illegal taking of interests, in two other cases in Nanterre.
© 2023 AFP