France's Jacques Chirac Ordered to Stand Trial

FILE - Former French President Jacques Chirac gestures during a news conference, in this file photo...

FILE - Former French President Jacques Chirac gestures during a news conference, in this file photo from Dec. 8, 2001, in Belgrade. A judicial official said Friday Oct. 30, 2009 the former French President Jacques Chirac is ordered to stand trial in corruption case. Chirac was mayor of Paris from 1977-95 and president of France from 1995 until 2007. (AP Photo/Srdjan Ilic-File)

(AP)

A French judge ordered former President Jacques Chirac to stand trial on embezzlement charges predating his presidency — a case that could mark the first time a former leader of modern France is forced to defend himself in court.

A prosecutor can still appeal the judge's decision to try Chirac for embezzlement and breach of trust in a corruption case dating back to his tenure as mayor of Paris, and if so, the ensuing judicial deliberations could last months.

Still, the judge's bold pursuit of Chirac, who lost his presidential immunity when his 12-year presidency ended in 2007, stunned many observers. Judges chased Chirac unsuccessfully in various corruption scandals for years, and prosecutors had requested that this particular case be dropped.

Many French politicians fretted openly Friday about how the case would affect France's reputation abroad. It's just one of several current scandals alleging dirty dealings in the conservative political establishment that Chirac headed for years.

One of Chirac's former prime ministers, Dominique de Villepin, is on trial, accused of orchestrating a smear campaign against Chirac's successor, Nicolas Sarkozy. Villepin denies the charges.

And in a court verdict just this week, Charles Pasqua, an influential former interior minister, was sentenced to a year in prison for influence peddling connected to arms trafficking to Angola. He plans to appeal.

As for 76-year-old Chirac, the mere fact of his being investigated is already a humiliating coda to his four-decade-long political career.

Chirac has been dogged by suspicions of corruption and nepotism, mostly from time as Paris mayor, from 1977-95.

Xaviere Simeoni, the investigating judge who ordered Chirac to stand trial, has been probing whether people in his circle were given sham jobs as advisers and paid by Paris City Hall, even though they weren't working for it.

Chirac's office said in a statement that he was "serene and determined to prove in court that none of the jobs still being debated were fake." Chirac has retired from politics and heads a foundation devoted to helping the developing world.