Sarkozy, 63, attended the questioning voluntarily on Tuesday, according to an official at the court.The official, who did not want to be named, said Sarkozy was being investigated by anti-corruption authorities.According to the official, Sarkozy was notified of the request to appear prior to today. Under French law, he can be held for up to 48 hours.Sarkozy, leader of France from 2007 until 2012, has been dogged by accusations of financial wrongdoing.In July 2012, shortly after he was ousted from office by the Socialist François Hollande, police raided Sarkozy's home as part of an investigation into alleged illegal assistance from L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt during the 2007 election campaign. Those charges were eventually dropped in 2013, but another investigation was opened the following year, and in February 2017 a judge ordered Sarkozy to face trial. That came after an embarrassing loss for the former President, as an attempt to return to frontline politics saw him finish third in the Republican party's presidential primary. The winner of that race, François Fillon, was subsequently defeated by centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron, who eventually won the presidency after a runoff against National Front leader Marine Le Pen.
CNN's James Griffiths contributed reporting.
Original Article
Sarkozy, 63, attended the questioning voluntarily on Tuesday, according to an official at the court.The official, who did not want to be named, said Sarkozy was being investigated by anti-corruption authorities.According to the official, Sarkozy was notified of the request to appear prior to today. Under French law, he can be held for up to 48 hours.Sarkozy, leader of France from 2007 until 2012, has been dogged by accusations of financial wrongdoing.In July 2012, shortly after he was ousted from office by the Socialist François Hollande, police raided Sarkozy's home as part of an investigation into alleged illegal assistance from L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt during the 2007 election campaign. Those charges were eventually dropped in 2013, but another investigation was opened the following year, and in February 2017 a judge ordered Sarkozy to face trial. That came after an embarrassing loss for the former President, as an attempt to return to frontline politics saw him finish third in the Republican party's presidential primary. The winner of that race, François Fillon, was subsequently defeated by centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron, who eventually won the presidency after a runoff against National Front leader Marine Le Pen.
CNN's James Griffiths contributed reporting.
Original Article
