Sarkozy says court will judge slander case fairly

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he is confident the justice system will make the right call in a case involving allegations of a smear campaign against him.

Mr Sarkozy has rarely commented about the so-called “Clearstream” case.

He claims former Prime Minister Dominique Villepin was behind a smear campaign aimed at thwarting his bid for the 2007 presidential election.

Mr Villepin is a defendant in the case, accused of complicity in slander and complicity in forgery. He denies any wrongdoing.

As the trial opened this week Mr Villepin said he was on trial simply because of Mr Sarkozy’s determination.

Mr Sarkozy said today in a TV interview that he has “total confidence in the justice system” to solve the issue of “Who did this? Why did they do it?”