French prosecutors have demanded an 18-month suspended sentence for former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin who is a man in his smear trial, but no jail time. Mr de Villepin stands accused of plotting to hurt President Nicolas Sarkozy's chances of winning the 2007 presidential election, which he denies. He had faced a maximum of five years in jail if convicted.
| The trial and probably conviction are shame enough for a man who used to captivate the salon when he recited his poetry. |
| He certainly had no shame when he dotted the 'i' in his name with a butterfly ... |
Mr de Villepin, who was also a government minister at the time, has denied orchestrating any plot.
Dubbed France's trial of the decade, the hearings are due to end on Friday but a verdict is not expected before January. Mr de Villepin, 55, is charged with plotting in 2004 to discredit Mr Sarkozy at a time when the two men were rivals to succeed then-President Jacques Chirac. He is accused of passing forged documents to a French magistrate that wrongly implicated Mr Sarkozy in a major corruption scandal.
Mr Sarkozy filed suit, saying he believed Mr de Villepin was the "primary instigator" behind the campaign to thwart his presidential bid.
Prosecutors argued that while Mr de Villepin had not deliberately taken part in the plot to defame Mr Sarkozy, he had failed to take action to stop the conspiracy. Prosecutors also recommended sentences for three other defendants in the case.
| So the small fish fry and the big fish gets away ... |
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