Word: clearstream
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That struggle is playing out in the same Paris courtroom in which a French revolutionary tribunal sentenced Marie Antoinette to the guillotine in 1793 (a detail that may not thrill history enthusiast Villepin). At the core of the trial is the Clearstream affair - a scandal named for the Luxembourg financial clearinghouse where 89 French politicians, businesspeople and public figures purportedly held accounts containing illegal kickback money from arms sales. A list of those names - including Sarkozy's - was brought to Villepin's attention in 2004, but was later deemed to be a fraud by a top French spy called...
...popularity just as he was consolidating his control of the conservative Union for a Popular Majority (UMP) ahead of the 2007 presidential race. Chirac, however, remained furious over Sarkozy's earlier disloyalty and backed Villepin as the next President. It was in that atmosphere of antagonistic maneuvering that the Clearstream scandal erupted...
...with that. Even Sarkozy's opponents concede that his pragmatism and push to modernize France - just as millions of regular French voters have modernized their own lives - are a large part of his appeal. Time-honored formalities, and the type of scheming in smoke-filled back rooms that the Clearstream scandal conjures up, are increasingly irrelevant in a country that now embraces everything from McDonald's to reality TV. (See the top 10 political sex scandals...
Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin appeared in court Sept. 21 to face charges of slandering President Nicolas Sarkozy in an attempt to improve his chances in France's 2007 presidential election. The trial hinges on a convoluted case--l'affaire Clearstream--in which French officials, including Sarkozy, were falsely accused of stashing kickback money from arms deals in Clearstream, a Luxembourg bank. Villepin, who could face up to five years in prison, said he expects to be exonerated...
...monthlong trial is a game for big stakes. For de Villepin, a conviction would mean a maximum five-year prison sentence and a 10-year ban from public office - a death blow to his political credibility. Acquittal, however, would allow de Villepin to claim the title as the main Clearstream victim - and add legal persecution to his long list of accusations to pound Sarkozy with...