JACQUES CHIRAC’S corruption trial will go ahead in March after the former French president’s wife denied reports that he has Alzheimer’s disease.
Bernadette Chirac insisted her husband was healthy enough to defend himself against allegations that he gave fictitious jobs to supporters during his term as mayor of Paris. She was reacting to a report in the Journal du Dimanche, which had quoted unnamed friends of Mr Chirac as saying he had memory lapses and that his wife feared he had Alzheimer's.
“He’s 78 years old. He’s not exactly the same as he used to be . . . He has trouble walking from time to time. He has trouble sometimes with his memory. At times he can be impatient, but alas, there’s nothing new in that,” Mrs Chirac told Europe 1 radio.
She said it was not clear whether the former president’s symptoms were the long-term effects of a minor stroke he suffered in 2005 or simply a result of ageing.
“The doctors have told him he doesn’t have Alzheimer’s disease. I believe them,” she added.
The newspaper report had raised the question of whether Mr Chirac might be unable to stand trial in March. Approached by a television reporter in Paris yesterday, Mr Chirac said: “Do I look like I am not well? I am very well, thank you. I wish you the same good health.”
He did not comment on the trial, but in her radio interview, his wife said his health posed no obstacle. “He has always said he wanted to be treated as a person liable to trial like any other. He said he would go to his trial and he will,” Mrs Chirac said.
A judge confirmed yesterday that the trial – the first against a former president of France – would begin on March 7th and rejected an attempt by Mr Chirac’s legal team to have the case deferred on procedural grounds.
The prosecution alleges public funds were used to pay salaries to Mr Chirac’s political allies for non-existent jobs while he was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995. The former president has always denied committing any crime and insists the disputed jobs were legitimate and useful for the city.
Having lost the immunity from prosecution he enjoyed as head of state until 2007, Mr Chirac faces up to 10 years in jail and a fine of €150,000 on charges including embezzlement and breach of trust.
Last year, Paris city hall dropped its civil complaint against the former president after he and the ruling UMP party agreed to repay the city €2.2 million, which is the sum of the alleged bogus salaries, interest and legal fees. The UMP provided 75 per cent of the total as a gesture of “solidarity” with Mr Chirac.
Opinion polls show that since leaving office, Mr Chirac has become one of France’s most popular public figures. Politicians from across the spectrum yesterday criticised intrusion into his private life.
“Why don’t we leave Jacques Chirac in peace?” said education minister Luc Chatel.