Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin has accused President Nicolas Sarkozy of a ‘vendetta of hatred’ after prosecutors indicated they would appeal a judgement which cleared him of smearing the current president.
The decision opens the way to a second episode of the so-called "Clearstream trial", in which Mr Villepin was accused of trying to sabotage Mr Sarkozy's bid to win the presidency in 2007.
Speaking minutes after Paris prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin said there would be a second trial either at the end of this year or the start of 2011, Mr Villepin launched his attack on Mr Sarkozy, whom he accused of pursuing a vendetta.
"This decision is a political decision and what it shows is that Nicolas Sarkozy, president of the Republic, prefers to continue in his relentlessness and hatred instead of assuming the responsibilities of his office," Mr Villepin told BFM television.
Mr Villepin, who became prime minister in 2005, had been accused of being part of a conspiracy to link President Sarkozy to a corruption probe as the two men angled to succeed Jacques Chirac.
Mr Sarkozy, who was a civil plaintiff in the case, said yesteday that he would not be launching an appeal on his own account. He has no authority to direct the actions of the prosecutor.
The former prime minister, who has never held elected office, said yesterday that he hoped to return to active political life, holding out the prospect of a rival to Mr Sarkozy on the centre-right in the 2012 presidential campaign.