Chirac graft trial delayed to June

ARIS. March 9. KAZINFORM Paris criminal court announced Tuesday that it will postpone the trial of former French President Jacques Chirac to June, sparing over two months to decide whether the former leader was guilty in the "fake jobs" affair dated back to the 1990s; Kazinform refers to China Daily.

Chirac, 78, was accused of creating "fake jobs" in a way to misappropriate public money to friends and allies in his Rally For the Republic (RPR) Party when he served as Paris mayor in the 1990s.

The court has accepted the appeal of a co-defendant in the case that cast doubts on the process of the trial and asked constitutional authorities to review the process. This interruption would delay the trial which is to close from previously scheduled April 8 to June 20.

Public prosecutors filed the suit against Chirac after he lost the immunity as French president in 2007, making him the first ex- president of France under judicial investigation since the leader of Vichy France, Marshal Philippe Petain, was convicted of treason after World War II.

If convicted, according to French law, Chirac will risk 10 years in jail and a fine of 150,000 euros (about 210,280 U.S. dollars), however, local media widely assumed that the ex- president will at worst suffer loss in fame and suspended sentences; Kazinform cites China Daily.

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