FIRST, conversations of Nicolas Sarkozy (pictured), France’s former president, were secretly recorded by one of his own advisers. Now it turns out that he has had his phone bugged for nearly a year by investigating judges. More than the first snooping affair, these latest bugging revelations, published in Le Monde, a newspaper, on March 7th, could damage Mr Sarkozy’s chances of a comeback ahead of the 2017 presidential election.
The latest affair is unprecedented for a former president of the Fifth Republic. Investigating judges, who have sweeping powers under French law, have been tapping Mr Sarkozy’s phone for months, initially as part of an investigation into alleged illegal financing by the former Libyan regime of his 2007 election campaign. While listening in, according Le Monde, they were alerted to what they considered could have been an attempt to exchange inside information from a high-ranking prosecutor about ongoing judicial investigations in return for a possible plum job in Monaco.
Mr Sarkozy’s lawyer, Thierry Herzog, whose conversations with his client were also bugged, has called the wire-tapping “monstrous”, breaking attorney-client privilege. He denied any attempt to extract favours, and called the allegations “absurd”. The whole case, he said, was clearly a “political affair”.
Since leaving office in 2012, when his presidential immunity expired, Mr Sarkozy has been linked to a number of judicial investigations, which at various points looked as if they might thwart his political comeback. In 2012 Mr Sarkozy was detained by investigators for hours for questioning into alleged illegal party financing by Liliane Bettencourt, a billionaire heiress of the family that owns L’Oréal, a cosmetics empire. But late last year investigating judges dropped preliminary charges against him, removing one obstacle in the way of his return to political life.
Now, this latest judicial investigation throws fresh uncertainty on to Mr Sarkozy’s attempted comeback. Even if investigating magistrates fail to find enough evidence to send such cases for trial, the process can drag on for months, if not years. This is why Mr Sarkozy’s friends see it as a political attempt to keep their champion out of politics. “The more Nicolas Sarkozy embodies hope in the eyes of the French, the more he becomes the target,” said Brice Hortefeux, a former minister, whose phone was also tapped according to Le Monde.
Later this week, a Paris court is due to rule whether investigating judges looking into another case of alleged illegal election-financing by the Bettencourt family acted legally when they seized Mr Sarkozy’s diaries. A number of figures have been charged in this affair, including Eric Woerth, Mr Sarkozy’s former campaign treasurer. The ruling could also have an impact on the evidence admissible in yet another case that touches Mr Sarkozy, this one centred on Bernard Tapie, a business tycoon, and the circumstances of an arbitration pay-out made to him by the state.
For now, Mr Sarkozy is continuing his return to public life as planned. He appeared today in Nice to open a health centre (and refused to comment on the affairs). In a separate case, his lawyer has requested an injunction to forbid the publication of conversations secretly taped by Patrick Buisson, a one-time presidential adviser, which were leaked to the press last week. Less than two weeks before local elections, the fall-out may touch not only the former president. A poll in a Sunday newspaper, conducted after the latest bugging affair, suggested that 44% considered all this damaging for Mr Sarkozy—and 57% judged it hurt the entire political class.
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There are no perfect Politicians.
Sarko made some blunders, but he is a billion times better than
any Brazilian Politician (Jose Dirceu, Antonio Palocci, Paulo Maluf, and even Lula).
The comparison is quite relevant and telling since Brazil is said to be on a rise
trajectory (despite its current economic woes) and France is said to be on a decline.
There is much talk about fast tracking Dominique Strauss Kahn to be France's President.
Mr. Kahn is not an angelical figure, but then again he is not like a Brazilian Kleptocrat.
Between Sarko and DSK, France would be better off with Sarko. Even if France had the
very best President ever, Lawmakers would not fall in line with great governance. The
best France can expect is a President that can rally enough support for much needed
reforms, and an opening up to entrepreneurship instead of the typical Grandes Ecoles
treadmill into Civil Service. Ironically, Entrepreneur is a French word that the U.S. embraced
to the fullest whereas the Left in France has shunned it the most.
'Investigating judges, who have sweeping powers under French law, have been tapping Mr Sarkozy’s phone for months...' [The Economist]
They may well have 'sweeping powers' but do they, in addition have bottomless budgets? I think not.
And which malefactors are benefiting from this diversion of time and resources devoted to the Sarko bogeyman?
Nicholas Sarkozy is a billion times better than Lula da Silva? Really. Why?
Sarkozy embodied pure ambition and not much else.
Da Silva presided over a country coming out of a period of military dictatorship, a much bigger country with bigger problems.
I don't really get the attraction of Sarkozy. I salute his pure ambition and drive but other than that I don't see what his virtues consist of. He has come a long way since he was a lieutenant of that famous, successful entrepreneur Berlusconi and then mayor of the richest of rich Paris suburbs. He never ran a business and its not as if he is a French Steve Jobs. He jogs and cycles. Thats good. He has a certain charisma not like plain, old Mr. Normal who has no charisma(but still does amazingly well with the ladies, I'd like to know what his secret is). If you want charisma then its Johnny Halliday for President.
Entrepreneurs work hard, very hard, usually ,so a President who knows what work is, a worker, is whats needed in most countries. Someone who understands and respects the concept of work and the worker.
French law, according to a bill that M Sarkozy's political party adopted in 2004, have no privilege against bugging investigations. It only states that bugged talks between an attorney and its customer that relate to the current case can't be transcribed and though become a document that a court may take in account.
Nevertheless, if a lawyer mentions an offence or a crime that was committed by himself or anybody and that does not rely with the current case, the transcription may be used by prosecutors.
Much of the noise comes from the fact that M Sarkozy used a cell phone that had been registered under a fake name, which is illegal but never prosecuted, and that a person exists that bears this name and that was a former good friend of M Herzog.
Sarkogate doesn't exist at all. It is only an attempt from M Sarkozy's party for making people forget that many of them aren't very cautious toward the laws although they always explain that breaching the law is a major cause of public insecurity.
You haven't read the article above. Do some research on Nicholas Sarkozy and the Bettencourt affair.
He is up to his neck in the scandal. Cash transfers in brown paper bags. Tax evasion. Conflict of interest. You name it.
Batista wasn't a fake entrepreneur. He was involved in many businesses. He may have been a failed entrepreneur but he was a real one.
Lula is a hero. Sarkozy is not fit to shine Lulas shoes. Lula is a trillion times better than Nicholas (Le Flic) Sarkozy, the mini-Napoleon.
And now we move on to Taubiragate!
Nicholas Sarkozy did not presided over the biggest corruption scandal
in one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Lula did.
Google Mensalao, please. The only one that escaped jail was Lula. Jose
Dirceu, Antonio Palocci, Henrique Pizzolato (jailed in Italy), and Lula's son
are all in jail. However, even now, some of his cronies are going to be set free
as the Brazilian Supreme Court reversed its ruling on the sentences. Jose Dirceu,
one of Lula's right hand men, was going to prison by day and offered a high paying
job in a luxury Hotel at night. Does that happen in France?
You talk about Sarkozy's ambition, but what about Lula? He bypassed protocol
and even the UN Security Council (which Brazil is not a Permanent Member) to
try brokering a deal on Nukes with Iran. Had his deal succeeded, Israel would be
in peril as Iran would continue to enrich Uranium while giving up a portion of its
production. Lula allowed Chinese pilots to train on the Sao Paulo Aircraft Carrier
(formerly Foch from France). Not only Lula was the only leader in helping the
Chinese in such way, but he also has put most of Asia and specially Taiwan in danger.
A total irresponsible "Leader" trying to bring glory to himself and Brazil. That makes
whatever you call Sarkozy's ambition miniscule in comparison.
Lula supported a political insider and fake entrepreneur named Eike Batista (a Putz
who Lula allowed to hoard Brazil's natural resources as his own) who lost $30 billion
of his FDI fortune and many more billions from foreign investors in his "X" companies.
Lula supported the "National Champions" B.S. financed by BNDES (basically BR taxpayers
funds financing already the rich and connected Putz). Google Pao de Acucar deal with
Carrefour and how the deal backtracked to understand the mess. Only in Brazil!
Nicholas Sarkozy is a billion times better than Lula.