Mujraparty
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Former French prime minister Edouard Balladur has been charged over allegations that kickbacks from the sale of submarines to Pakistan may have helped finance his 1995 presidential election campaign, according to judicial sources.
For years, judges have been trying to unravel the "Karachi Affair", a series of nebulous dealings by middlemen involving possible "retro-commissions" linked to the sale of Agosta class submarines by the French government to Pakistan in the 1990s.
The investigation was launched after 15 people, including 11 French submarine engineers, were murdered in a May 2002 bomb attack in Karachi.
It was initially blamed on al-Qaeda terrorists, but investigating judges also looked into whether the blast was to punish France for failing to pay part of €80 million in sweeteners to senior Pakistani officials.
When Jacques Chirac beat Mr Balladur to become French president in 1995, it is alleged that he punished his one-time ally for running against him by halting the remaining payments to Pakistani middlemen.
Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, who was budget minister and spokesman for Mr Balladur's presidential campaign at the time, has previously angrily rejected media speculation that he might have known of the payments as "grotesque".
The decision to place Mr Balladur, 88, under formal investigation for "complicity in the misuse of funds and concealment" was made by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), a tribunal created to try former ministers for acts during office, judicial sources told AFP and Le Canard Enchaîné, the investigative weekly.
In a statement, Mr Balladur said he had asked his lawyers to "contest" the decision, saying it failed to take into account the fact that his campaign spending was "validated" by the constitutional council at the time and that the events took place "23 years ago".
Mr Balladur's lawyers long insisted the case had past the statute of limitations, but in September the CJR ruled that the investigation could continue due to new revelations dating from 2006 on possible kickbacks.
The case is one of several high-profile corruption probes involving senior politicians in France, chiefly from the conservative camp.
Right-wing presidential candidate Francois Fillon crashed out of the running in this year's election after being charged with giving his British wife suspected fake jobs as a parliamentary assistant.
Mr Sarkozy has also been embroiled in several scandals, including suspected corruption involving a judge.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...m-charged-kickbacks-submarine-sales-pakistan/
For years, judges have been trying to unravel the "Karachi Affair", a series of nebulous dealings by middlemen involving possible "retro-commissions" linked to the sale of Agosta class submarines by the French government to Pakistan in the 1990s.
The investigation was launched after 15 people, including 11 French submarine engineers, were murdered in a May 2002 bomb attack in Karachi.
It was initially blamed on al-Qaeda terrorists, but investigating judges also looked into whether the blast was to punish France for failing to pay part of €80 million in sweeteners to senior Pakistani officials.
When Jacques Chirac beat Mr Balladur to become French president in 1995, it is alleged that he punished his one-time ally for running against him by halting the remaining payments to Pakistani middlemen.
Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, who was budget minister and spokesman for Mr Balladur's presidential campaign at the time, has previously angrily rejected media speculation that he might have known of the payments as "grotesque".
The decision to place Mr Balladur, 88, under formal investigation for "complicity in the misuse of funds and concealment" was made by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), a tribunal created to try former ministers for acts during office, judicial sources told AFP and Le Canard Enchaîné, the investigative weekly.
In a statement, Mr Balladur said he had asked his lawyers to "contest" the decision, saying it failed to take into account the fact that his campaign spending was "validated" by the constitutional council at the time and that the events took place "23 years ago".
Mr Balladur's lawyers long insisted the case had past the statute of limitations, but in September the CJR ruled that the investigation could continue due to new revelations dating from 2006 on possible kickbacks.
The case is one of several high-profile corruption probes involving senior politicians in France, chiefly from the conservative camp.
Right-wing presidential candidate Francois Fillon crashed out of the running in this year's election after being charged with giving his British wife suspected fake jobs as a parliamentary assistant.
Mr Sarkozy has also been embroiled in several scandals, including suspected corruption involving a judge.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...m-charged-kickbacks-submarine-sales-pakistan/
