07/03/2011 11:43
Chirac corruption trial begins
Former French president Jacques Chirac is scheduled to stand trial Monday on charges relating to a financing scandal dating to his tenure as mayor of Paris, from 1977 to 1995.
Mr. Chirac will be the first French former head of state to go on trial since France's Nazi-era leader, Marshal Petain, was exiled for treason.
The conflict-of-interest charges allege that Mr. Chirac used City Hall or construction company funds to pay friends and allies for non-existent jobs.
Other charges against the former president allege he used city funds to pay his political aides.
Mr. Chirac has denied any wrongdoing during his tenure as mayor.
He was immune from prosecution while president from 1995 to 2007, Rossiya-24 reports.