The former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villlepin portrayed himself as the victim of a personal and political vendetta today as he went on trial accused of plotting to destroy the career of his nemesis, Nicolas Sarkozy.
The judicial showdown centres on a botched attempt five years ago to smear Mr Sarkozy and other leading figures in France’s political and business elite through a leaked list of account holders at a Luxembourg clearing house said to have taken kickbacks from the sale of French warships to Taiwan.
The list was quickly proved to be a forgery and Mr Sarkozy, then Interior Minister, suspected that Mr de Villepin, who was then Foreign Minister, was behind the plot, trying to derail his bid for the presidency. He vowed then to “hang whoever did this on a butcher’s hook”.
“I am here because of one man’s will. I am here because of the dogged determination of one man, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also President of the French Republic,” Mr de Villepin said as he arrived at the Palais de Justice this afternoon accompanied by his wife and three children.
“I will come out of this a free man and exonerated,” he added.“I know that truth will triumph.”
The 55-year-old former diplomat faces a hefty fine and a jail term of up to five years, although that would almost certainly be suspended even if he were convicted on all charges of “complicity in calumny, complicity in the use of forgeries, dealing in stolen property and breach of trust”.
The drama features a who’s who of big names in French politics, industry and intelligence circles, beginning with Mr Sarkozy, who is a civil plaintiff in the case. Mr de Villepin’s lawyers went on the offensive at the outset of the hearings, asking the court to strip Mr Sarkozy of his status as a civil plaintiff to ensure their client gets a fair trial.
“We want to be tried through a fair procedure,” said Henri Leclerc, for the defence.
Mr Sarkozy registered as a plaintiff in 2006 to gain access to the case files and secure his right to seek damages as have 39 others including Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund.
Representing the President, who was not present at the trial, lawyer Thierry Herzog argued that his legal action pre-dated the charges against Mr de Villepin and reflected Mr Sarkozy’s desire to know the truth about the fake listing.
The month-long hearings could also cast light on the murky dealings of French intelligence and at top aerospace company EADS.
Also on trial Jean-Louis Gergorin, the former vice-president of EADS who has admitted to leaking the bogus list to investigators, and Imad Lahoud, an ex-EADS employee suspected of falsifying the list.
Florian Bourges, a management consultant, is accused of stealing Clearstream documents and Denis Robert, a journalist who broke the story, is charged with dealing in stolen property.
Among the star witnesses to be heard in the coming weeks are former spymasters including Yves Bertrand and General Philippe Rondot, whose notes — seized by investigators — detail his secret meetings with Mr de Villepin about the Clearstream affair.
Mr de Villepin is not expected to take the stand until next week.
Judges are expected to take several months to reach a verdict after the trial ends on October 23.
