Want to Reach Ex-French President <PERSON>? Try Calling His Mobile Phone Alias, <PERSON> · Global Voices
<PERSON> during an Afrique-France summit in Nice in May 2010. Photo by <PERSON>. Copyright Demotix.
Most links lead to French-language pages.
You might not have heard of <PERSON>, but you certainly know of the famous French politician who used the name as an alias.
Former French President <PERSON>, dogged by corruption allegations, communicated with his lawyer <PERSON> using a prepaid mobile phone registered under <PERSON>. <PERSON> suspected — correctly — that <PERSON>'s personal phone was wiretapped by prosecutors looking into <PERSON>'s campaign financing during the 2007 presidential election.
It was on that “secret” phone that investigators overheard <PERSON> and <PERSON> allegedly discussing in great detail proceedings of the investigation into the illegal campaign financing that they both should not have been aware of.
In part because of those phone conversations, <PERSON> was charged with corruption and influence peddling on July 2. He is accused of trying to influence judge <PERSON> into giving him more information regarding the proceedings of the so-called Bettencourt Affair, which involved illegal payments made to members of government by L'Oréal heiress <PERSON>. <PERSON> was investigated for his involvement in those payments, but the case was dropped.
Aside from their communication still being wiretapped, there was another problem with the alias: the real <PERSON> wasn't looped into the scheme. When the news broke earlier this year, he sued <PERSON> for identity theft, but the lawsuit was withdrawn after negotiation between <PERSON> and <PERSON>'s lawyers.
So how exactly did <PERSON>, alter ego of <PERSON>, come about? French persecutors were investigating <PERSON>'s staff with respect to allegations that the one-term president received illegal campaign funding in the 2007 presidential race from the late Libyan leader <PERSON>, a separate legal issue from the Bettencourt Affair. French law prohibits foreign funding of a political campaign.
<PERSON>'s lawyer <PERSON> came up with the plan to register a prepaid phone under <PERSON>'s name. 637
According to Lepoint.fr, he explained, “I feared, and with reason, that there would be rogue or illegal wiretapping. And I made ​​sure that I could talk to <PERSON> without any eavesdropping, something I was clearly justified to do.”
Initially, only two staffers close to <PERSON> were under investigation and their phone were subsequently wiretapped. As the investigation proceeded and more evidence was collected, prosecutors decided to also wiretap <PERSON> and his lawyer <PERSON>. <PERSON> himself is now also under investigation.
The real <PERSON>, a real estate developer in Israel, is a former classmate of <PERSON>. They went to the same high school in Paris in the 1970s but lost contact since. <PERSON> was not amused by the identity theft:
Je trouve ça plutôt cavalier, J'ai dit à <PERSON> que j'étais choqué et étonné par cette pratique, je n'ai pas pris de gants
I found [their action] rather cavalier, I told <PERSON> that I was shocked and surprised by this practice, I did not mince my words.
<PERSON>'s lawyers have argued that it is illegal to wiretap an ex-president, especially in the context of attorney-client privilege. Temps réel, a French news blog, explained that the conversation cannot be used as evidence, but “nothing seems to prevent judges from listening.”
<PERSON> went on the offensive in the media to clear his name by appearing on primetime news to respond to the preliminary charges. Earlier this year, media speculated that he may try to run again for president, and observers’ analyses are mixed on what's next for <PERSON> given this new legal development.
What we do know is that whether <PERSON> runs or not, it will not be under the <PERSON> moniker. <PERSON> seems to have enough troubles on his own without bismuth, a rather toxic element when used inappropriately, thrown into the mix. 600