Takieddine’s retraction: Sarkozy’s interrogation, suspended, will resume on Thursday

2023-10-04 20:35:42

Former head of state Nicolas Sarkozy will resume a third day of interrogation on Thursday morning in the investigation into fraudulent maneuvers to exonerate him in the affair of the Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign, according to a judicial source.

The interrogation, which began Tuesday morning and which has already lasted more than ten hours, was suspended on Wednesday around 7 p.m., according to this source. Sarkozy’s car left the court around 7:30 p.m. The former president (2007-2012) is questioned in the judicial investigation opened in May 2021 after the retraction of the sulphurous Franco-Lebanese intermediary Ziad Takieddine. His lawyers have still not wished to comment at this stage.

Judge’s assessment

This first appearance interrogation “concerns the counts of concealment of bribery, criminal association with a view to the preparation of organized gang fraud and criminal association with a view to the corruption of foreign judicial personnel”, according to the judicial source . Depending on the content of his statements before the investigating magistrate and the assessment made by him, Sarkozy could emerge from this interrogation indicted or under the less incriminating status of assisted witness. In this second case, he would have access to the file but would not risk trial.

This interrogation was initially scheduled for mid-September and had been planned over three days. The former head of state, who contested any participation in the events, is suspected of having given his approval or allowed several people who would have tried to defraud French and Lebanese justice to exonerate him in the Libyan case, who will be judged in early 2025. In addition to Sarkozy, justice suspects at least nine protagonists of having participated, to varying degrees and times, in this operation, including the queen of the paparazzi Mimi Marchand, the crook Noël Dubus or again the late financier Pierre Reynaud.

Several cases

For investigators, according to recently established figures, at least 608,000 euros could have been used in this operation. The legal agenda of Mr. Sarkozy, who is currently promoting his latest book “Le temps des combats”, is very busy. In addition to the Libyan financing trial, he will be tried in November on appeal in the Bygmalion case. In another case, the so-called “Bismuth” case, the Constitutional Council recently opened the way to a possible new trial, for procedural reasons.

“I am clean,” Nicolas Sarkozy assured at the beginning of September, when questioned about all of these legal challenges.