Sadly, Jacques Couldn't Make It to Copenhagen

Unfortunately, the gathering of grifters, thieves and miscreants in Copenhagen was missing one of their own this week in Copenhagen. He's a bit tied up at the moment.

Disgraced former French President Jacques Chirac was today formally charged with embezzlement after being accused of creating fictitious jobs so as to pay political cronies.

The 77-year-old, who stepped down as head of state in favour of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, is said to have been guilty of widespread fraud during his time as Paris mayor.

If he is found guilty he faces up to five years in prison and risks a fine of up to £70,000.

He is already facing up to 10 years in prison and a further fine of around £135,000 for another case of embezzlement and breach of trust for which he was charged on October 30.

Both cases mark the first time that a modern French leader has been threatened with a trial in a public court.

The latest case, which in 2004 led to the conviction of former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, is just another in a long line of legal scandals for Chirac to contend with.

May justice be swift and merciless.

'Conservative' Chirac to Go On Trial

It's about time this weasel was held to account. I've got to laugh, though, how the New York Times call him a conservative.

An investigating magistrate on Friday ordered the former French president, Jacques Chirac, to stand trial on corruption charges dating to his time as mayor of Paris, reinforcing the whiff of alleged malfeasance swirling around the political elite here.

If he comes to trial, Mr. Chirac will be the first former French head of state to be prosecuted for corruption, news reports said, offering a humiliating book-end to a career as a towering presence in French politics for 30 years.

The order by the magistrate, Xavière Siméoni, may still be challenged by public prosecutors who have already requested that the charges against the conservative Mr. Chirac, 76, be abandoned. If the prosecutors appeal Friday’s order, it could take months for judges to determine whether he should face trial.

The development came at a time when one of Mr. Chirac’s most prominent aides, former prime minister Dominique de Villepin, is in court defending himself against separate charges of planning a smear campaign in 2003 and 2004 against Nicolas Sarkozy, a political rival who is the current president.

The charges against Mr. Chirac and nine other people relate to his years as mayor of Paris, and involve accusations of awarding contracts for fictitious positions as city advisers in return for political favors.

Sure, Chirac may not be a full-blown socialist like many French pols, but calling the guy a conservative is really a stretch.

I hope this weasel gets what he's got coming.

Embezzlement Charges Filed Against Chirac

Couldn't have happened to a sleazier guy.

PARIS — A judge filed preliminary charges against former President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday in a probe of suspicions that people were given fake jobs while he was mayor of Paris, his lawyer said.

The judge placed Chirac under formal investigation for suspected embezzlement or misuse of public funds, the attorney, Jean Veil, said after the investigating magistrate questioned Chirac for nearly four hours.

The case is one of several hanging over Chirac, who had kept investigators at arm's length while he was president by using the immunity that comes with the post.

Mon Dieu! Frog Season Opens

Former French president, Jacques Chirac. Photograph: Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images
Couldn't happen to a nicer weasel-look-alike Froggie.

Chirac faces corruption inquiry
Jacques Chirac is to be questioned by judges investigating alleged corruption in the Paris city government while he was mayor.

Jean Veil, the lawyer for the former French president, confirmed Mr Chirac will "very probably" be questioned before September 15 as an "assisted witness", meaning it remains possible he will face criminal charges.

The 74-year-old faces a series of potential legal problems now that he no longer enjoys presidential immunity. He handed over the French presidency to Nicolas Sarkozy on May 16.

The case involves claims members of the conservative Rally for the Republic party, which Mr Chirac headed, were illegally on the payroll of the Paris government while he was mayor between 1977 and 1995.

"For the period up to 1995 when he was elected president he is a citizen like any other, and he will answer all questions in all the cases that may concern him," Mr Veil told Europe 1 radio.

Mr Chirac's ally Alain Juppe, a former prime minister, was convicted in the affair in 2004 and banned from politics for one year.

Mr Chirac's lawyer stressed he has given an "absolutely definitive" refusal to be questioned in two other cases, including the so-called Clearstream affair in which it is said senior politicians and business figures - including Mr Sarkozy - received illegal commissions on a major arms sale to Taiwan.

Judges have indicated they want to interview Mr Chirac over claims he ordered a secret intelligence probe in 2004 to see if the allegations against Mr Sarkozy were true. The two men have had strained relations for several years.

Mr Veil has also announced the former president will refuse to respond to allegations of a murder cover-up over the death of a French judge in Djibouti in 1995.

Mr Chirac's office said last week that because he had constitutionally guaranteed judicial immunity while he was president he cannot be ordered to provide testimony about incidents during his tenure.

In the Djibouti case, Mr Chirac prevented judges from making a rare search of the presidential Élysée palace last month while he was still in office.

Congressman William Jefferson was unavailable for comment.