Paris, Sep 22 (Xinhua) Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin went on trial Monday charged with plotting to discredit politicians including President Nicolas Sarkozy.
“I am here because of one man’s determination, Nicolas Sarkozy,” Villepin said at a court here.
Villepin is accused of ordering a secret inquiry in January 2004 against several people, including Sarkozy, then interior minister, suspected of having received illegal commissions from the sale of French warships to Taiwan.
The case was brought against Villepin and three others after a list of suspects against whom the alleged inquiry was initiated mysteriously surfaced.
Villepin admitted giving the order to investigate the suspects having links with a bank in Luxembourg through which the money was allegedly transferred.
Former vice president of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) Jean-Louis Gergorin, management consultant Arthur Andersen Florian Bourges and journalist Denis Robert are also charged with conspiracy in fabricating the list.
A judicial source said the complex trial could last about a month.
Villepin will have to answer the questions from Sarkozy’s lawyer.
“I will come out of it free and clear,” Villepin said before the trial began.
Both Villepin and Sarkozy belong to the same political camp.
