Ex-French president to face wiretap evidence

PARIS

 Secret wiretaps of France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy can be used to prosecute him for corruption, a court in Paris ruled on Thursday.

The leader of the right-wing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) had sought to have evidence from the wiretaps thrown out in a case focused on claims he offered a magistrate a lucrative job in exchange for information on an inquiry into funding for his 2007 presidential campaign.

"Contrary to our legitimate hopes, the court has not upheld our calls for dismissal," one of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Paul-Albert Iweins, told reporters at the Court of Appeal. He said the ex-president would appeal the ruling.

The corruption inquiry was examining claims that Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog were receiving inside information about another investigation into whether Sarkozy took illegal funds from L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.

The investigation into the 2007 campaign was also looking into funds allegedly received from then Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The wiretaps caught Sarkozy and Herzog discussing offering a well-paid job in Monaco to Court of Appeal magistrate Gilbert Azibert.

Sarkozy, French president between 2007 and 2012, is accused of corruption, influence-peddling and violating legal secrecy.

The decision comes after Sarkozy returned to French politics last year as leader of the UMP. He is widely thought to be considering running for the presidency in 2017.