Chirac placed under judicial investigation

FORMER French president Jacques Chirac was placed under judicial investigation yesterday as part of a probe into the improper use of city funds when he was mayor of Paris, said his lawyer.

The move marks the first time a former French head of state has been put under judicial investigation.

“Mr Chirac has been placed under judicial investigation for misappropriation of public funds, as several other people have already been in this case. Legal logic dictated that it be so,” said his lawyer Jean Veil.

The case concerns allegations Paris funds were used to give front jobs at City Hall to individuals from Mr Chirac’s Rally for the Republic Party. Mr Chirac was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.

The former president was informed of his predicament during a three-hour interview at the offices of the judge looking into the affair. It was the second time he was questioned by a judge since losing his presidential immunity. In July, he was interviewed by a judge conducting another corruption probe. The former president, who was replaced by Nicolas Sarkozy in May, will be interviewed again in the coming weeks, said Mr Veil.

In an article in Le Monde newspaper yesterday, Mr Chirac denied he had recruited “officials” at City Hall for political purposes.

“Never were funds belonging to the City of Paris used for any other aim than on behalf of Parisian men and women. Never was there personal enrichment,” he said.

In July, Mr Chirac let it be known he would “answer all questions in all cases that may concern him” in investigations relating to events before he took over as president. However, he said he refused to be interviewed in the investigation into the so-called Clearstream scandal, that took place when he was in office.

The Clearstream probe is into allegations that in 2004 Mr Sarkozy — then interior minister — was the victim of a smear campaign aimed at derailing his bid for the presidency.

Altogether, four separate Paris corruption cases are open that could draw in the former president.

Writing in Le Monde at the time, Mr Chirac conceded all political parties turned a blind eye to financing irregularities in the 1980s and early 1990s. But he said this needed to be seen in the context of the time.

Originally no law set out the rules for funding political parties, said Mr Chirac. As a result it had become accepted by the left and the right to raise money from private firms and even public budgets, he said.