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Chirac guilty, handed suspended sentence in corruption trial
Former French president Jacques Chirac has been handed a guilty verdict over misusing public funds, in a trial that made history by producing the first conviction of a head of state since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain in 1945.
Former French President Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac, 79, was declared guilty in absence by a presiding judge in Paris who was handed a suspended two-year jail sentence.
The former head of state was tried on charges of diverting public money into phantom jobs for political allies while he served as mayor of Paris between 1977 and 1995, a time when Chirac built a new centre-right Gaullist party that launched his successful presidential bid.
Chirac faced a 10 year jail term, the maximum sentence for the charges against him.
He was excused from attending the trial after doctors said he was afflicted with "severe" neurological problems.
The charge sheet alleged that Chirac was the "inventor, author and beneficiary" of a conspiracy to use public funds to "support his political influence" and serve his own "interests and ambitions, or those of his party".
Several people were convicted in connection with the case in 2004, including former prime minister and current Foreign Minister Alain Juppe who was found guilty of mishandling public funds and given a suspended sentence.
