Chirac to pay but insists he's innocent
Source: Agencies |
August 28, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FORMER French President Jacques Chirac has agreed to pay the city of Paris 550,000 euros (US$699,819) to drop a civil case against him, improving his chances of avoiding a conviction on charges of creating phoney jobs during his tenure as mayor.
Chirac, who will be the first ex-president of France to stand trial if the case goes to court, is accused of inventing 21 fictitious jobs for friends and political allies while he was mayor of the capital in the early 1990s. He denies any wrongdoing.
Under the deal, confirmed by Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, France's ruling conservative UMP party -- founded by Chirac in 2002 when he was president -- will also pay 1.65 million euros for the city to drop its civil case against him.
"This sum (2.2 million euros) corresponds to the entirety of the salaries, plus interest, and legal fees for the judicial case," Delanoe.
The agreement requires approval by the Paris city council.
The case may still go to trial, later this year or in 2011, because Chirac faces criminal proceedings under which he could receive up to 10 years in prison and a 150,000 euro fine.
But with the public prosecutor's office having said it would recommend that the case against the 77-year-old be dropped, Thursday's agreement improved his prospects.
"President Jacques Chirac has always denied having committed any crime and he insists that the jobs under dispute were legitimate and useful for the city of Paris," said his lawyer Jean Veil.
Chirac, who will be the first ex-president of France to stand trial if the case goes to court, is accused of inventing 21 fictitious jobs for friends and political allies while he was mayor of the capital in the early 1990s. He denies any wrongdoing.
Under the deal, confirmed by Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, France's ruling conservative UMP party -- founded by Chirac in 2002 when he was president -- will also pay 1.65 million euros for the city to drop its civil case against him.
"This sum (2.2 million euros) corresponds to the entirety of the salaries, plus interest, and legal fees for the judicial case," Delanoe.
The agreement requires approval by the Paris city council.
The case may still go to trial, later this year or in 2011, because Chirac faces criminal proceedings under which he could receive up to 10 years in prison and a 150,000 euro fine.
But with the public prosecutor's office having said it would recommend that the case against the 77-year-old be dropped, Thursday's agreement improved his prospects.
"President Jacques Chirac has always denied having committed any crime and he insists that the jobs under dispute were legitimate and useful for the city of Paris," said his lawyer Jean Veil.
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