Chirac held office as Paris mayor from 1977 to 1995, when he was elected French president [AFP]

A French magistrate on Friday said Chirac, 76, must stand trial for "misuse of public funds" and "breach of trust".

The trial would hinge on allegations that he gave 21 political allies false contracts as ghost workers in Paris city hall, the AFP news agency reported.

The former leader, who was mayor from 1977 until 1995 when he was elected president, said he was "calm and determined" to prove his innocence.

He will become France's first former president to face trial, after enjoying immunity from prosecution between 1995 and 2007.

But there is uncertainty over whether he will stand trial, with a prosecutor in the case who previously said there was no case against Chiras expected to appeal the decision.

Renewed popularity

Xaviere Simeoni, the investigating magistrate, has been looking into allegations that people in Chirac's circle were given fake jobs as advisers and paid by Paris city hall, despite not working for the money.

A statement from Chirac's office said Simeoni had dropped a potential charge of "forging government documents" but that the former president and nine former aides still faced charges relating to the alleged ghost workers.

But it said Chirac was "confident and determined to establish before a tribunal that none of the jobs that remain under discussion were non-existent jobs".

The magistrate's decision comes amid renewed popularity for the former president, with a survey conducted by French polling firm Ifop finding Chirac France's most popular politician, with a 76-per cent approval rating.

"Jacques Chirac is a personality whom the French love very much. It's a shame that, at the end of his personal career, he be put on trial," Dominique Paille, spokesman for the ruling UMP party, said.

Although he has so far avoided direct involvement in any trial, a number of Chirac's former allies and associates have been convicted on corruption charges.

Jean Tiberi, his former deputy who succeeded him as mayor, was found guilty in May of electoral fraud dating back to the 1990s and received a 10-month suspended jail sentence.

The nine others charged in the same case as Chirac include two of his former chiefs of staff, Michel Roussin and Remy Chardon, as well as seven beneficiaries of the contracts for alleged non-existent jobs.

They include Jean de Gaulle, grandson of former president Charles de Gaulle, as well as Marc Blondel, a former head of the Force Ouvriere labour union, and Francois Debre, brother of the head of France's constitutional court.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto:

Be first to comment this article

Write Comment

Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
BBCode:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.4