Ex-French President
Villepin Cleared Of Smearing Sarkozy
Prosecutors
in France say they will appeal against the acquittal of former
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, for smearing Mr. Nicolas
Sarkozy.
Dominique de Villepin was cleared on Thursday, of being part of
a conspiracy to smear Nicolas Sarkozy and sabotage his campaign
to become president in 2007.
The verdict in the so-called ‘Clearstream case’ is a personal
triumph for Villepin, who had been accused of being instrumental
in a plot to damage Sarkozy by having forged documents handed to
magistrates investigating a bribe-ridden arms deal with Taiwan
in the 1990s.
Villepin, who became prime minister in 2005 after stints as
foreign and interior minister, had been accused of faking
documents to link Sarkozy to a corruption probe as the two men
angled to succeed the ageing Chirac.
He always denied the charges and said repeatedly that he was a
victim of a vendetta by Sarkozy, who won power triumphantly in
the 2007 election while Villepin battled against the allegations
of wrong-doing.
The court found three of Villepin's co-defendants guilty.
The judge said Jean-Louis Gergorin, a former EADS executive with
links to intelligence services and Imad Lahoud, a computer
specialist, were the main architects of the affair which dragged
in some of the top names in French politics and business.
Both were found guilty on the main counts of slanderous
denunciation and use of false documents.
The former prime minister holds no elected post and works as a
lawyer.
NAN/Yinka
