Sarkozy pledges to clear name over duping allegations

FORMER French president Nicolas Sarkozy has made his first public comments over allegations he duped the country’s richest woman to raise election funds, saying he had never betrayed his public duties and pledging to clear his name.

Sarkozy, 58, was placed under investigation last week for allegedly exploiting the mental frailty of L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, 90, after she was declared in a state of dementia, to help raise money for his 2007 election campaign. His lawyer rejected the case as flawed.

The “abuse of weakness” case threatens to torpedo any political comeback for Sarkozy, who lost a re-election bid in 2012 to Socialist François Hollande.

The former president took to Facebook yesterday to thank those who had shown him support “at a time when I must face up to the ordeal of an unfair and unfounded investigation”.

“To all of those who have supported me, and all of those who have fought against me, I want to affirm that at no point in my public life have I betrayed the duties of my position,” he wrote.

Sarkozy, a lawyer by training, said he would seek no special treatment as he fought the case, which is being brought by a Bordeaux magistrate.

“I will devote all of my energy to prove my probity and honesty,” he wrote. “The truth will prevail eventually.”

Ms Bettencourt was declared in a state of dementia in 2006 and was placed under the guardianship of her family in 2011.

Sarkozy has been placed under formal investigation, the final step before a suspect is accused of a crime and drawn into a case which could take years to complete. The crime is punishable by up to three years in jail.