David Montagné, edited by Alexandre Dalifard
This Monday, the Court of Appeal will hear one last time Nicolas Sarkozy, his lawyer Thierry Herzog and the senior magistrate Gilbert Azibert, on the content of the telephone exchanges. Accused of corruption and influence peddling, they were sentenced to three years in prison, including one year.
Last days in the appeal file of Nicolas Sarkozy, his lawyer Thierry Herzog and the senior magistrate Gilbert Azibert. The three magistrates of the Paris Court of Appeal will be able, for a few more hours, to try to find out whether or not there was a pact of corruption between the former head of state, his friend and lawyer and this high magistrate of the Court of Cassation. The three have claimed their innocence since the start of the trial. For them, there was never any question of any agreement to influence the decision of the judges in one aspect of the Bettencourt case.
Challenge to the legality of the tapping
The broadcast of the conversations in the courtroom last week revealed that Nicolas Sarkozy seemed more interested in the progress of his case than the career of Gilbert Azibert. The same one who was aiming for a position in Monaco in exchange for his services.
In any case, Nicolas Sarkozy and Thierry Herzog will challenge the legality of these wiretappings on Tuesday. As they have done since the beginning of this file. In particular for violation of the secrecy of exchanges between the lawyer and his client. The stakes are high because if the Court cancels these wiretaps, the very basis of the proceedings disappears. And the three defendants cannot then be convicted.