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Former French prime minister Edouard Balladur goes on trial on Tuesday (today) on charges that he used kickbacks from arms deals in the 1990s to fund a presidential bid. Reuters/File
PARIS: Former French prime minister Edouard Balladur goes on trial on Tuesday (today) on charges that he used kickbacks from arms deals in the 1990s to fund a presidential bid, a case known as the “Karachi affair”.
Balladur, 91, joins a long list of senior French politicians pursued for alleged financial wrongdoing, including former president Nicolas Sarkozy and his predecessor, Jacques Chirac.
The conservative ex-premier will be tried by the Court of Justice of the Republic in Paris, a tribunal dedicated to hearing cases of ministerial misconduct.
PARIS: Former French prime minister Edouard Balladur appeared in court on Tuesday on charges he used kickbacks from 1990s arms deals to help finance a presidential bid, in a case that has already.
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Sputnik International
First published on Tue 19 Jan 2021 00.00 EST
Former French prime minister Ãdouard Balladur has gone on trial accused of financing his failed 1995 presidential campaign with illegal kickbacks from international arms deals.
The 91-year-old rightwing politician is the latest high-ranking French politician to find himself in the dock over the so-called Karachi affair that
has poisoned the countryâs political life for more than 25 years.
He made no statement to a throng of journalists as he arrived at the court of justice of the republic, which hears cases involving ministerial wrongdoing.
Balladur, who has been charged with complicity in the alleged misappropriation of public funds, has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying he did not know of any kickbacks and was not responsible for the details of the finances in the presidential campaign.