French justice condemn former President Jacques Chirac of corruption

Jacques Chirac, 79-year-old, today became the first President of France sentenced by the courts, before the correctional Tribunal of Paris her townsmen to two years in prison, which will not have to meet, on charges of embezzlement, abuse of trust and obstruction of justice.

Chirac, head of the French State between 1995 and 2007, was sentenced by a case that dates back at the beginning of the 1990s on 19 of the 28 fictitious jobs that were created with electoral interests in the Mairie de Paris, which was mayor.

The Court, which issued statement almost three months after the prosecution requested the acquittal of the former President and the other nine defendants, it was considered that individuals occupying those jobs with public money worked in reality for the Party of Chirac, the conservative RPR.

The former President failed to appear before the Court at the trial that developed between 5 and 23 days u000afor the month of September, he credited neurological problems "severe" and "irreversible" but, through their lawyers, said the trial had not committed "any lack, or criminal or moral".

However, the Court held that "Chirac violated the duty of honesty on the management of funds or public goods in charge, against the interest of Parisians," malversando 1.4 million euros.

His defence, in charge of the lawyer Georges Kiejman, not reported on whether to appeal the Court's decision and advanced to the press to first dealt with the matter "with the main interested".

In addition to Chirac, seven other people were sentenced in the same process, among them Jean of de Gaulle, grandson of general De Gaulle, and the former Secretary general of the Union Force Ouvrière (FO), Marc Blondel, and the rest were acquitted.

It is in fact a ruling concerning the investigation of two summaries.

The u000afirst refers to 21 fictitious jobs, instructed by the Paris Court between 1992 and 1995 during the tenure of Chirac at the head of the Mayor (1977-1995), just prior to you agreeing to the head of State (1995-2007).

In the second case, educated at the Court of Nanterre, Chirac was the only defendant, after already had been convicted of several leaders of the late his party, including which became his Prime Minister, Alain Juppé, and currently plays the position of Minister of foreign.

In 2004, Juppé was sentenced to 14 months in prison exempt from compliance with a penalty of disqualification for one year for his involvement in the plot, when he was Secretary general of the Party of Chirac.

The former President, who faced a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros, had evaded the appearance before the judges under the immunity that he enjoyed while he was at the front of the u000aPresidency of France

Process was developed without the participation of the main private prosecution, the Mairie de Paris, which decided to withdraw it after reaching an agreement with Chirac and with the conservative UMP - Union for a Popular Movement, heir of the RPR--for more than 2.2 million euros.

The Court took into account "the antiquity of the facts", the "absence of personal enrichment" and "compensation" to the Mayor of Paris Jacques Chirac and the UMP party, as well as "the age and State of health of the former President" and "eminent responsibilities" as head of State.

Reactions to the ruling have not been made wait. The spokesman of the Socialist Party (PS), Benoît Hamon, told the local press that sentence is "a good sign for the French democracy" already showing that "an independent judiciary can pronounce a verdict against a former President of the Republic".

By its u000apart, exmagistrada Eva Joly and ecologist candidate in the presidential elections expressed regret in a statement that the delay of the sentence after "real judicial Marathon".

"If Jacques Chirac had been tried under the same conditions as the rest of the French, after discovering the facts, citizens would now have more confidence in democracy", he added.

It's a debate that has permeated the French media today examining whether it would be desirable to change the status of immunity of the President of the French.

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