The French courts decreed a fresh probe against France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy monetary corruption in the so called “Karachi affair,” on Thursday.
Three judges reopened the 2002 case to ascertain whether Sarkozy had violated a confidentiality law when the Elysee presidential palace published a press release on the affair in September 2011.
Per details, Sarkozy’s name was not present in any of the files relating to a 2002 bombing in Karachi that killed 11 French engineers. The family of the decease engineers had filed a Sue petition against Sarkozy alleging that the press release “violated laws prohibiting publication of information on matters which are sub judice” .
Although prosecution argued that Sarkozy cannot be investigated because he had presidential immunity at the time, the judges disagreed. The three member bench pronouncing verdict on the case said that “the act of permitting the release of information concerning ongoing investigations does not enter into the functions of the president.”
The 2002 Karachi bombing case has frogspawn several other investigations implicating Sarkozy, a right-winger who was defeated in his re-election bid last year by Socialist Francois Hollande. In one case, two close aides to Sarkozy have been charged by judges for accepting kickbacks on a Pakistani arms deal concluded when Sarkozy was budget minister. It was also alleged that Sarkozy authorised creation of a company to channel kickbacks to then Prime Minister Edouard Balladur’s unsuccessful 1995 presidential bid. The French court which has a knack of spuriousness, is also investigating whether the Karachi 2002 bombings were revenge by Pakistani officials after the French government cancelled granting of Kick backs and cancelled secretly decreed bribes.
