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France ex-PM indicted in defamation case

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has been ordered to stand trial for "complicity in slanderous denunciation" in connection with the a long-running political scandal know as the Clearstream Affair. De Villepin is accused of having orchestrated the release of a fabricated list of government officials and business people who profited from illegal arms sales, including current French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The allegations, which de Villepin has previously denied, surfaced during de Villepin's unsuccessful bid for the 2007 presidential nomination by the Union for a Popular Movement, which eventually went to his rival Sarkozy. In 2006, French authorities searched de Villepin's home and questioned him for 17 hours in connection with the scandal. De Villepin's political image was tainted by the allegations as well as by his advance of an unpopular youth labor law during his time as prime minister.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on November 20, 2008 (boomark / email).