Court Bars Chirac Ally From Office
In a blow to French President Jacques Chirac, a court Friday convicted a key ally and potential successor, former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, in a party financing scandal and barred him from office.
Pale and close to tears, Juppe rushed out of the packed courtroom by a back door after the three-judge panel found him guilty of overseeing the systematic use of public funds to pay workers in Chirac’s party.
The court in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, sentenced Juppe, 58, to a suspended 18-month prison term. The conviction disqualifies Juppe, a legislator and mayor of Bordeaux, from voting for five years. He is also barred for 10 years from holding office.
Juppe’s lawyer, Francis Szpiner, said he would appeal the ruling, which he called “questionable and unjust.”
The sentence will be deferred until a higher court rules on the appeal, which could take a year.
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