Nicolas Sarkozy becomes first former French president to be taken into police custody over corruption

                                                                
Nicolas Sarkozy today became the first former French president to be held in police custody as detectives questioned him over corruption allegations.
The 59-year-old arrived at the offices of the judicial police in Nanterre, the west Paris suburb, shortly after 8am.
He was placed 'garde a vue' - a legal term meaning he is a suspect at the centre of a major criminal enquiry.

It relates to so-called 'influence peddling' - effectively trying to interfere with those investigating him over a range of corruption enquiries.


Mr Sarkozy's lawyer, Thierry Herzog, and two judges were taken into custody for questioning yesterday in relation to the same investigation.

Both Mr Sarkozy and Mr Herzog are suspected of trying to pervert the course of justice through their contacts in the judiciary.

The former leader is said to have offered an attractive job to Gilbert Azibert, one of the judges, in return for inside information about the progress of the so-called Bettencourt affair.
This was a case in which he was accused of accepting millions in illegal cash from Liliane Bettencourt, the L'Oreal heiress and France's richest woman, towards his election campaign in 2007.

Investigators also believe Mr Sarkozy was illegally tipped off that his phone was being tapped as part of investigations into another matter, the so-called Gaddafi Affair.

This is said to have involved Sarkozy receiving millions more from the late Colonel Gaddafi - the former Libyan leader.

The home he shares with his third wife, former supermodel Carla Bruni, was itself raided by anti-corruption police within days of him stepping down as president in 2012.
He lost an election to the Socialist, Francois Hollande, meaning he no longer enjoyed presidential immunity from prosecution.
Mr Sarkozy has always insisted that he is innocent of any wrong-doing, and has even indicated that he will try to be re-elected as president in 2017.
But this morning's development are a disaster as far as such ambitions are concerned.
A judicial source in Sarkozy said the 'garde a vue' meant Mr Sarkozy could be held for 'more than four hours'.

                     

It had been alleged that Mr Sarkozy was helped in his winning 2007 election campaign with up to 50 million euros (£40million) provided by former Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi, pictured

The offices of both Gilbert Azibert and Thierry Herzog were raided by police in early March. Computer equipment and a mobile phone belonging to Mr Herzog were seized.

Suspecting that his phone was bugged, the former president is said to have used a dedicated mobile phone, registered under the name of 'Paul Bismuth', for conversations with his lawyer.

His remand in custody is a historic first in France. Jacques Chirac, once Mr Sarkozy's political mentor and his predecessor as president, was found guilty of corruption in 2011.
But Mr Chirac was never actually held in police custody, and ended up with a two year suspended prison sentence for embezzling public funds when he was Paris mayor.
Mr Sarkozy himself now faces the possibility of being formally charged with corruption, which in turn could lead to a trial and prison sentence.