France\'s Sarkozy back in court, this time for illegal campaign financing

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France's Sarkozy back in court, this time for illegal campaign financing

By Tangi Salaün

PARIS (Reuters) - Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy goes on trial on Wednesday accused of financing his failed 2012 re-election campaign illegally, less than three weeks after being convicted of corruption and influence-peddling.

Prosecutors allege that Sarkozy's party, then known as the UMP, splurged nearly double the 22.5 million euros ($27 million) permitted under electoral law on extravagant campaign rallies, and then used a friendly public relations agency to hide the cost.

In their indictment, the prosecutors acknowledge that their investigation had failed to prove Sarkozy either organised or was involved in the scheme, but argue that he benefited from it and must have been aware of it.

"The election candidate and his inner circle opted to focus the campaign on spectacular and expensive rallies and to entrust the organisation to specialist agencies," the indictment reads.

Sarkozy, 66, has consistently denied wrongdoing and said he was not aware of a fake billing process. If found guilty, he could be jailed for up to a year and fined up to 3,750 euros.

The trial casts another ignominious pall over a political career that saw Sarkozy bestride the national and global stage for five years, but dramatically fall from grace in a courtroom this month.

Jerome Lavrilleux, Sarkozy's deputy campaign chief in 2012 and one of 13 co-accused, has publicly acknowledged that he oversaw the rerouting of funds paid to the PR agency Bygmalion to camouflage the cost of the campaign events. He has said he acted on his own initiative.

Two co-founders of Bygmalion are also among the accused. One of them, Guy Alves, has publicly acknowledged the fake billing. In 2014, a lawyer for Bygmalion said the company had acted under political pressure.

Lavrilleux has requested the trial be postponed after a member of his defence team fell sick with COVID-19, and the judges will have to decide on Wednesday whether to adjourn for several weeks.

Sarkozy was sentenced on March 1 to three years in prison, with two of them suspended, for attempting to bribe a judge to give him inside information on another investigation, into his 2007 campaign finances. He has lodged an appeal.

($1 = 0.8398 euros)

(Reporting by Tangi Salaun; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

法国的萨科齐（Sarkozy）再次出庭，这次是为非法竞选筹款

通过坦基·萨拉恩

巴黎（路透社）-前法国总统尼古拉·萨科齐（Nicolas Sarkozy）周三接受审判，被指控非法为他失败的2012年改选竞选活动提供资金，距离被判犯有腐败和影响力罪名不到三周。

检察官指称，萨尔科奇的政党当时被称为UMP，浪费了选举法允许的奢侈集会的费用，将其花费了2250万欧元（合2700万美元），几乎翻了一番，然后使用了一个友好的公共关系机构来掩盖这笔费用。

检察官在起诉书中承认，他们的调查未能证明萨科齐组织或参与了该计划，但辩称他从中受益，必须知道这一点。

起诉书写道：“竞选候选人及其内心圈子选择将竞选活动集中在壮观而昂贵的集会上，并将该组织委托给专门机构。”

现年66岁的萨科奇（Sarkozy）一直否认存在不当行为，并表示他不知道虚假的帐单流程。如果被判有罪，他可能会被判入狱一年，并处以最高3750欧元的罚款。

审判使萨科齐跨入了国家和全球舞台长达五年之久，但在政治生涯中又蒙上了一层耻辱。本月，萨科齐在法庭上大放异彩。

萨科奇在2012年担任竞选副主席的杰罗姆·拉夫里约克斯（Jerome Lavrilleux）是13名共同被告中的一名，他公开承认，他监督重新分配给公关公司Bygmalion的资金，以掩盖竞选活动的费用。他已经说过，他是主动采取行动的。

比格马利翁的两位联合创始人也包括在被告中。其中之一，盖伊·阿尔维斯（Guy Alves）已公开承认虚假帐单。2014年，比格马利翁（Bygmalion）的律师表示，该公司在政治压力下采取了行动。