{"id":29082,"date":"2014-07-02T08:22:49","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T08:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=29082"},"modified":"2014-07-02T08:22:49","modified_gmt":"2014-07-02T08:22:49","slug":"sarkozy-put-under-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/07\/sarkozy-put-under-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarkozy put under investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been placed under formal investigation over alleged influence peddling.<\/p>\n
He appeared before a judge in Paris late on Tuesday after 15 hours of questioning by anti-corruption police.<\/p>\n
This is thought to be the first time a former French head of state has been held in police custody.<\/p>\n
Mr Sarkozy’s lawyer, Thierry Herzog, and senior prosecutor Gilbert Azibert were also placed under formal investigation over the allegations.<\/p>\n
A second prosecutor called in for questioning, Patrick Sassoust, had not appeared before a judge as of Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
When a suspect is placed under formal investigation, he or she is then examined by a judge, who determines whether there is sufficient evidence for the suspect to be charged.<\/p>\n
The step often, but not always, leads to trial. Influence-peddling can be punished by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros (\u00a3120,000; $205,000).+<\/p>\n
‘Not a lot’<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Sarkozy was released from custody around midnight (22:00 GMT) after appearing in court in Paris.<\/p>\n He had been brought to the court from the judicial police office in Nanterre, west of the French capital, where he had been interrogated.<\/p>\n Investigations into Sarkozy<\/strong><\/p>\n July 2014: Placed\u00a0under formal investigation<\/a>\u00a0on suspicion of peddling influence to obtain details from a magistrate about legal proceedings against him in 2013<\/p>\n October 2013: A criminal investigation into allegations he solicited secret campaign financing in 2007 from France’s richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt,\u00a0is dropped<\/a><\/p>\n April 2013: Judges open an inquiry into\u00a0allegations that the Gaddafi regime helped finance his 2007 election campaign<\/a><\/p>\n February 2014: Named as a witness in investigation into funding for Edouard Balladur’s unsuccessful presidential bid in 1995<\/p>\n A number of other inquiries are under way into wrongdoing by senior officials during his presidency, in which he has not figured directly.<\/p>\n