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France's Jacques Chirac 'not in fit state' for court
Jacques Chirac's trial is due to start on Monday, having been adjourned in March
Ex-French President Jacques Chirac says he is not in a fit state to attend his corruption trial, reports say.
He has asked the Paris court for his lawyers be allowed to represent him, AFP news agency has reported.
Mr Chirac, 78, is accused of embezzling public funds in the 1990s, when he was mayor of Paris. He denies the charges.
The trial is due to start on Monday, having been adjourned in March after a co-defendant argued that some of the charges were unconstitutional.
In a letter to the Paris court on Friday, the former leader wrote that he wanted his trial to go ahead "even if he no longer has the full ability to participate in hearings", said a statement from Mr Chirac's lawyers.
"In the letter... he requested that his lawyers be able to represent him and carry his voice during these hearings," said the statement.
A copy of the former president's medical records was enclosed in the letter, it added.
French media described Mr Chirac as tired during a holiday in St Tropez last month, although he reportedly signed autographs and posed for pictures with tourists.
Immunity from prosecutionJacques Chirac, who was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, is the first former head of state to stand trial in France since World War II.
Analysis
The medical report attached to Jacques Chirac's letter to the court suggests his mind is in a "vulnerable mental state which does not permit him to answer questions about his past".
This supports suggestions from friends of the ex-president that in recent months he has been suffering from memory lapses.
While the letter is an informal request, it is within the judge's powers to accept it, or request a second medical opinion.
The letter could result in the trial being delayed, and possibly postponed indefinitely if it is deemed that Mr Chirac is no longer able to talk with any reliability about things that happened more than 20 years ago.
He is accused on two counts of paying members of his Rally for the Republic (RPR) party for municipal jobs that did not exist.
The first count accuses Mr Chirac of embezzlement and breach of trust relating to 21 so-called "ghost jobs".
The second came about from a separate investigation in the Paris suburb of Nanterre and involves an illegal conflict of interest relating to seven ghost jobs.
For years there were persistent rumours of wrongdoing, but Mr Chirac had immunity from prosecution while he was president from 1995 to 2007.
After 11 years of legal wrangling, he and nine other defendants finally went on trial in March.
However, on the second day of the trial a lawyer representing Mr Chirac's former chief of staff at city hall, Remy Chardon, challenged the two cases being brought together.
He argued that the statute of limitations had expired in the first case.
The judge decided to refer the question to the Court of Cassation, which ruled that the constitutional challenge was not valid.
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Comment number 21.
C3rd September 2011 - 14:03
Proper trial is important, of course. But at the same time, fraud is fraud and is wrong. There is no excuse for it and those who were cheated don't deserve it. They should be paid back. It's really that simple. Not even mental illness "makes" [you] cheat another. Indeed, it's usually the ill being "cheated" in their head if anything. The trial should go on even if he has to write instead of talk.
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Comment number 10.
CryFreedomMachine3rd September 2011 - 13:09
Mubarak was wheeled into Egyptian court on a bed.
If need be, do it with Chirac.
There has been 11 years of legal wrangling, escaping justice.
If this was a common man, he would have been in court years ago.
Get him into court even by dragging him there & do NOT let the rich & powerful abuse & make mockery of justice systems as they so often do.
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Comment number 2.
Rolfe3rd September 2011 - 11:56
This is representative of a class of politician who is in constant denial and more worried about their image. If an ordinary citizen made the same request they would probably be in contempt of court. But not ex leaders its about time that the Law flexed its muscles and held some of these people to account
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