05/09/2011 10:36
Jacques Chirac trial begins
Ex-French President Jacques Chirac trial is due to start on Monday, having been adjourned in March after a co-defendant argued that some of the charges were unconstitutional.
However, Mr Chirac says he is not in a fit state to attend his trial, according to BBC.
He has asked the Paris court for his lawyers be allowed to represent him, AFP news agency has reported.
Mr Chirac, 78, is accused of embezzling public funds in the 1990s, when he was mayor of Paris. He denies the charges.
Jacques Chirac, who was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, is the first former head of state to stand trial in France since World War II.
He is accused on two counts of paying members of his Rally for the Republic (RPR) party for municipal jobs that did not exist.