Jacques Chirac, a former president of France, faces trial for corruption

A DECISION by an investigating judge to send Jacques Chirac, a former president, to stand trial in a court is without precedent in modern French history. Mr Chirac is accused of “misappropriation of public funds” during his time as mayor of Paris. The decision comes in a month in which the entrails of France’s one-time ruling elite have been spilling out. A former interior minister, Charles Pasqua, was this week sentenced to a year in prison (and a suspended sentence of two years) for involvement in arms trafficking to Angola. A former prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, has also been tried in connection with a smear campaign and is awaiting a verdict.

The case against Mr Chirac concerns 21 “fake jobs” that were allegedly created for friends at the Paris town hall, where he held office between 1977 and 1995. As long as he was president, from 1995 to 2007, Mr Chirac was immune from prosecution, and his lawyer has argued that he remains so for acts carried out during his time in office. This has frustrated various investigating judges over the years, who have compiled numerous dossiers concerning Mr Chirac, all of which have been dropped, in some cases because the statute of limitations had expired. …