Villepin acquittal upheld on appeal

FORMER prime minister Dominique de Villepin has been acquitted of involvement in the Clearstream scandal.

Prosecutors had appealed against his acquittal earlier this year, but the Paris appeal court has upheld it.

The case, in which other defendants have been found guilty, revolved around a plot to leak a forged list of people, including Nicolas Sarkozy, meant to have received bribes on the sale of French warships to Taiwan.

This leaves Mr de Villepin free to continue his presidential bid, heading his new party République Solidaire – though his woes are not yet over as he has been accused by barrister Robert Bourgi of receiving cases stuffed with banknotes from African leaders.

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Chirac, Villepin accused of ‘bungs’
Villepin faces appeal hearing

Photo:Service photo de Matignon