Sarkozy detained in French corruption probe

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PARIS (AP) — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was
in police custody Tuesday, apparently under questioning in an
investigation linked to allegations that he took 50 million euros ($67
million) in illegal campaign funds from Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi.
But will the shocking detention and sordid case torpedo Sarkozy’s chances at a presidential comeback?
Maybe not.
Sarkozy,
a political survivor who’s been touring the world with his pop singer
wife, is still among the most popular politicians in France despite a
pile of investigations that target him.
The 59-year-old hasn’t
been convicted of anything and remains well-known on the international
stage. And he may be his troubled conservative party’s best chance to
regain the presidency in 2017, after losing it to Socialist Francois
Hollande in 2012.
A judicial official said Sarkozy was detained
for questioning Tuesday at the headquarters of the judicial police in
the Paris suburb of Nanterre. The official, who was not authorized to be
publicly named while discussing an ongoing investigation, would not
elaborate. French police, prosecutors and other judicial officials would
not provide any details.
BFM television said late Tuesday night
that Sarkozy was transferred to an investigating judge, who could charge
him, name him as a witness, or release him.
French media reports
say Sarkozy is being questioned in an investigation linked to financing
for his 2007 presidential campaign, notably allegations that late Libyan
leader Gadhafi gave Sarkozy illegal campaign donations.
Sarkozy has vigorously denied wrongdoing.
The
French daily Le Monde, which has covered the case closely, says the
questioning centers around whether Sarkozy and his lawyer, Thierry
Herzog, were kept informed about the investigation by a friendly
magistrate, Gilbert Azibert.
Herzog was released but handed
preliminary charges Tuesday night, his lawyer Paul-Albert Iweins told
reporters. He insisted that there was no proof of wrongdoing.
Investigators
are basing suspicions at least in part on taped phone conversations
between Sarkozy and his lawyer. The taping raised questions about the
limits between investigative needs and individual privacy, particularly
lawyer-client privilege. Sarkozy has compared the situation to actions
by the secret police in the old East Germany.
Allies from Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party — which has been in a leadership crisis — jumped to the
former president’s defense.
"They have never imposed such treatment on a former president, with such a surge of hate,"
lawmaker Christian Estrosi tweeted.
Former
French President Jacques Chirac was convicted in a corruption case in
2011 after he left office, but when he was questioned he was not held in
police custody.
The Socialist government tried to stay above the fray.
"Justice
officials are investigating, they should carry out the task to the end.
Nicolas Sarkozy is a citizen answerable to justice like any other,"
government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said on i-Tele television.
Political scientist Thomas Guenole said it’s too early to draw conclusions about Sarkozy’s political
future.
"Nicolas
Sarkozy has often been pronounced politically dead over the last two
years because he was implicated in political-judicial affairs … And he
has always emerged," Guenole said.
He described an "immense love"
for Sarkozy amid hard-core members of his party, who view the
investigations against Sarkozy as politically driven.
Sarkozy was
handed preliminary charges in another investigation into whether he
illegally took campaign donations from France’s richest woman, L’Oreal
heiress Liliane Bettencourt. Those charges were later dropped.
In a
separate case, relatives of French victims of a deadly 2002 bombing in
Pakistan filed a complaint in Paris last year against Sarkozy and two
former advisers for allegedly violating a duty to secrecy in the
investigation of the case.
Judges are also investigating funding
for his failed 2012 election bid, amid reports that false accounting was
used to cover campaign expenses that had surpassed the legal limit.
Sarkozy’s camp says he was unaware of any wrongdoing.
Despite all
this, opinion polls show him in a strong potential position for 2017
election. Hollande won the presidency in 2012 on so far unfulfilled
promises to boost jobs and the economy, but his popularity has lagged at
record lows for much of his term.
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Sohrab Monemi and Louise Dewast in Nanterre contributed to this report.

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